Never Give Up, No Matter What
by life among the dead
Summary: When a hole appears in the barrier that surrounds The Isle of The Lost, five children are sent on a adventure, forcing them to work together as a team. What will happen on their adventure? Will they also be sent to Auradon after they return from their adventure? Read to find out. STRAIGHT, SLASH, FEMSLASH, POLY SURPRISE PAIRINGS.
1. Chapter 1

"WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE INDOLENT WORM!" A voice boomed, waking a girl from her dreams. A thin man with curly, black shoulder-length hair that drapes over his shoulders, a large hooked nose, a thin black mustache that angles upward sharply, a large chin and a hook for a hand, is standing in the doorway of the girl's bedroom. And as you can guess, that is Captain Hook, Peter Pan's nemesis.

The girl groaned out, "Five more minutes, dad." Captain Hook shook his head in irritation before walking over to the bed and pulling the mattress off the bed and onto the floor. The girl yelped and sat up, her hand on the back of her head.

"Get up and go to school. NOW!" He barked at her, walking out of her room, and slamming it loudly. She flinched and sighed, getting up and walking to her barely standing dresser, picking out clothes to wear.

This girl's name is Annaleise. She has straight dark brown hair that goes down to her waist, light brown eyes, has a skinny body, and really pale skin that looks like snow. She chose to wear a baggy black hoodie with the sleeves so long that people can only see her fingertips and has a black and red wolf symbol on the back of it, black and red pants, and worn-out black and white shoes. She grabbed her one-strap bag with books in it as she yelled, "Bye, Dad!" When she got no response, she just shook her head and climbed out her window. She jumped onto the pipe and ran across it to the other building. Annaleise ran across a few rooftops before jumping down to street level. She saw shops and lots of people roaming around.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT! I'LL BOIL YOU IN THE COFFEE POT NEXT TIME!" A voice shrieked after a girl who was holding a cup of coffee in her hand with a smirk on her face and replied to the voice who had yelled at her, "Not if you can't catch me first!"

The girl had shoulder length purple hair, piercing green eyes, a purple biker jacket with a dash of pink on one arm and green on the other and torn jeans that looked like the color of dried plums, fingerless gloves and battered combat boots. Annaleise recognized her as Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Maleficent was the ruler of The Isle of The Lost, where all villains were banished to, all thanks to King Beast who had also put a barrier around it to keep the villains trapped there with no magic and no way off the island.

Mal looked at her and Annaleise stared back. They stared at each for a few seconds before Annaleise looked away and walked off towards Dragon Hall, the school for teaching teenagers on how to be a proper villain. Annaleise looked around before seeing a certain black and white haired boy in the crowd. She smirked before rushing over to him. She decided to follow him quietly, so she can scare him. She saw him holding a black box with wires sticking out at different places.

'Must be a new invention.' She thought before deciding it's the right time to scare him. She put her hands on his shoulder and howled like a dog. He jumped up in the air, screaming, causing the black box in his hands to fall. Before it fell on the ground, Annaleise caught it and hid it behind her back. The boy looked at her before saying, "Hey, that was uncalled for, Anna!"

The boy was Carlos De Vil, son of Cruella De Vil. He has black hair at the roots and white at the tips of his hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was wearing a fur-collared jacket with one black and one white side and red leather sleeves, a black button-down shirt with streaks of white and long shorts with one white and one black and white shorts leg.

"Um, it kind of was. You know what they say, 'When an opportunity shows itself, you take it.' And that's what I did." Annaleise snickered. Carlos just pouted and crossed his arms, looking away from her. Then something crossed his mind.

"Give it, now." He demanded, holding out his hand. Annaleise looked at the hand before smiling and slapping the hand. "I didn't mean a high-five, you doofus. I meant my invention."

"What invention?" She asked, acting dumb to make him mad. It was working, his eyebrows were knit close together and the sides of his lips twitched. "Drop the act. You know what I'm talking about."

"Alright, alright, fine." With that said, she gave it back. His eyes lit up when he got it back. "Just what is that thing?"

"Oh, it's a power core; it's just like a battery. I'm trying to make a hole in the barrier, so I can get a signal and we can watch something other than that beastly king telling us to be good or that channel that only sells shackles." Carlos explained. Annaleise nodded and looked up. "Um, Carlos we're going to be late to school if we don't hurry."

Carlos looked up and saw that she was right. They looked at each other before they started running into the school. They passed through a moss covered archway and into the main school dead ivy-covered hallway. It was busy with activity from students rough-housing, chatting, and running around.

They scrambled through the main hall and through rusty double doors that led to the classrooms underground. Annaleise saw her older brother, Harriet and his crew of fake pirates. She rolled her eyes before heading into the classroom. She sat in a desk in the back of the class where she couldn't see the blackboard. Carlos sat in the desk in front of her.

"Hey, Carlos." Annaleise said, Carlos turned around in his seat to look at her. "Did you hear about the new student that will be joining us today?"

"Yeah. It's that girl who thinks she's a princess. You know, Evil Queen's daughter." Carlos said, turning around to start working on his invention.

"Do you think Mal will get mad and try to get revenge on her for what happened?" Annaleise asked, Carlos turned back around with a confused look on his face. "You know, when we were four years old and she was six, and she had that party. She gave everyone invitations but Mal. Remember that? And then Maleficent put some kind of curse on them and we never saw them again. Well, until now."

"Oh yeah, I remember the look on her face when Maleficent cursed them." Carlos said, a bit bitterly. Annaleise noticed but didn't say anything about it. The door opened and there was a girl standing there, she looked like a princess. She had her blue hair in a neat V-braid. She was wearing a blue cape around her shoulders, a crown in the middle of the back of it, a red poison heart necklace around her neck and raggedy black skirt, splattered with red, blue and white paint with black and white forest-print leggings. Everyone was staring at her. She looked around nervously before sitting down at a desk near the window and everyone gasped.

'Oh, bad place to sit, princess.' Annaleise thought before the door opened again to see Mal and a taller boy enter the room. The boy's name was Jay, son of Jafar. Jay had long, straight dark hair and had a red beanie covering it, dark brown eyes, have muscles in all of the right places, he was wearing a purple and yellow leather vest, black studded gloves and dark jeans. Mal looked at the princess before walking over to her and cleared her throat. The blue haired girl looked up and smiled nervously.

"Hi, I'm Evie. What's your name?" She asked. "By the way, that jacket is amazingly cool and it looks great on you. I love the patchwork leathers on it."

"Princess Blue, that's her desk. I would find another desk if I were you." Yzla hissed at her. Evie's eyes widened when she heard that and looked back at Mal.

"Oh, this is your desk?" Mal nodded. "I had no idea it was yours. I'm so sorry! But it had a great view of the lectern."

"Yes, it does. And if you don't move your blue haired caboose out of it, you'll get a view all right." The purple haired girl sneered, brushing past Evie and noisily set her backpack down in front of the desk. Evie seemed to get the message as she grabbed her things and sat in the desk next to Annaleise. She turned to her and asked, "Is that who I think it is?"

"If you mean Mal, you're right and I would stay out of her way if I were you." Carlos answered. Evie glanced at Mal before breathing out, "Mal."

"Yeah. Her mom's the Big Bad around here. You know-" Annaleise said, making horns on both sides of her head with her hands. Evie whispered and gulped. "By the way, my name's Carlos De Vil and this is Annaleise." Carlos introduced, not looking away from his invention.

"Oh, I'm-" Annaleise cut her off, bored. "Evie, we know, daughter of Evil Queen. We've met before, at your birthday party."

"Sorry, I don't remember much about the party except how it ended." Evie said, apologetically. Annaleise shrugged, indifferent about it. "Also, Carlos is your neighbor. He lives down the street from you in Hell Hall."

"He does? But I thought no one lived there but that crazy old woman and her-" Evie was cut off once again by Carlos this time. "Don't say it!"

"Say what? I was just going to say dog." Evie said, looking at Carlos in confusion. "We-we don't have dogs." He said, he was starting to look paler than usual.

"But-" Evie was cut off yet again by Annaleise who said, "Evie, just drop it. Carlos has a fear of dogs and he is deathly afraid of them."

"Okay, okay. Don't blow a gasket." Evie held up her hands in surrender. Annaleise chuckled and Carlos continued to work on his invention. Their first class was Selfishness 101 or Selfies for short, taught by Mother Gothel who took way too many pictures of herself with an old camera.

The photos were littered around of Mother Gothel in many positions and making faces thought impossible. But Mother Gothel herself wasn't in the classroom and she was a half hour late. When she did arrive, she was irritated, to say the least. "Have I taught you nothing about being fashionably late to every engagement?"

For the next thirty minutes or so, they studied Portraits of Evil and today's just so happened to be Cruella De Vil. Carlos didn't care to study it because he already memorized it by heart. He just tinkered with his invention.

Class ended and students began to file out of the classroom. They found out that Evie had Lady Tremaine for Evil Schemes with Carlos. Annaleise left to go to History of Curses and Spells taught by Madame Medusa.

"That's an advanced class, you must have a really high EQ." Carlos said to Evie, impressed. He motioned towards the stairs. "It's this way."

"Why, if it isn't Carlos De Vil." A cold voice cut through their chat, making them stop in their tracks. When they turned around, they saw Mal with Jay standing next to her.

"Hey, Mal, what's up?" Carlos said, trying to sound nonchalant. Mal never talked to him before and doesn't know why she is talking to him now.

"Your mom's away at the spa this weekend, right?" She asked, elbowing Jay who is snickering. Carlos nodded, uncertain. "Y-yes."

"Right answer. I can't exactly give a party at my place without my mother screaming at everyone." Mal said, patting his head. Carlos just sighed. "And we can't have it at Jay's because his dad will try to hypnotize everyone into being his servants."

"Totally." Jay agreed. Carlos nodded slowly, having a feeling what's Mal implying. "Great. Perfect. Party at your house. Tonight."

"What? Tonight? I can't have a party. I mean, you should understand, my mom doesn't really like it when people come over and I have a lot of work to do." Carlos said, hurriedly, trying to change Mal's mind about the party. Mal just ignored it.

"Spread the news. Hell Hall's having a hell-raiser. Get the word out. Activate the twilight bark or whatever it is you dogs do." Mal said, smirking as she walked away but before she did, she turned towards Evie and said, "You're invited, too."

 **In the Class of Curses and Spells.**

Annaleise walked in and sat down in the back of the room. She sighed and took out a book from her bag. It was a big, leather book called the Hexoren. On the cover it had nothing on it but on the inside, it just said Hexoren. It was a magical book of spells, but even though there is a barrier around the island and it can't cast spells, it can still fly, open itself up, and can communicate with bright flashes to which only Annaleise can understand for some reason she don't know. She found the book when she was six years old and she kept it hidden from everyone, knowing it would cause chaos if anyone knew about it and they would try to use the book for their own selfish needs.

Annaleise looked around to make sure no one is looking at her before talking to Hexoren. "Hey, Hexy."

The book flashed it's pages three times. _"Hey Anna, what's up?"_

"School, that's what up. And it is so boring." She answered, still keeping an eye out if anyone is looking at her. Hexoren flashed four times. _"It's not that bad. It could be fun."_

"You're lucky you are not a teenager because you're a book." Annaleise complained while crossing her arms. Hexoren flashed five times. _"If I had my full powers right now, I would make you hit yourself in the head. But it's your lucky day."_

"What do you mean by that?" She questioned, looking down at the magical book. Hexoren flashed six times. _"Because you will be helping Carlos set up the party tonight."_

"Party? What party?" She asked. Hexoren flashed six times. _"Put your hand on top of me."_ She looked at him a bit bewildered but did as asked. She was instantly at a different place in a busy hallway. She saw Carlos, Evie, Mal and Jay talking to each other. Annaleise instantly understood what Hexoren meant. "Hexy, you can take me out of this past and put me back in the present." There was a whoosh and she was back in her chair in History of Curses and Spells.


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours later, school was over for the day. Annaleise walked out of the school and headed to Hell Hall, knowing Carlos would head there to decorate his house for the party. When she got there, she heard him say, "Why did I ever agree to have this party? I never wanted one."

"You mean tonight?" She said, and he turned around to see it was her. He replied with, "I mean ever."

"Why did you agree to this party? Easy, because Mal asked you to." One of Carlos' henchmen, Harry said, with tape dangling from his fingers. "Maybe you should build something that would free us from her mind control."

"Yeah, right. No one can stand up to her. As if." Carlos' second henchman, Jace said, trying to take a piece of tape from Harry but only succeeded in taping himself to Harry.

Harry's full name is Harold and is short and fat as his father. Jace's full name is Jasper and he is taller than his own father. Their fathers are Horace and Jasper, loyal minions of Cruella.

Harry nodded. "If Mal doesn't like this party, we are doomed."

"Doomed." Jace repeated. Annaleise scanned the room; every broken down old furniture were covered in a dusty white linen cloth. She thought they could do a better job than this. She smirked as she got an idea for better decorations. Annaleise walked towards the rotary phone that was near Carlos. She picked it up and dialed a familiar number.

"Annaleise, who are you calling?" Carlos asked. She held up one finger and started talking to whoever is on the phone. Carlos just sighed and thought his cousin would want a gig here at the party.

"Alright, thanks. See you in a bit." Annaleise said into the phone, then hangs up. She turned around to Carlos with hands on her hips. "That was Harriet. He'll be bringing awesome decorations for the party."

"And I was thinking of having my cousin, Diego and the band play music here too. Also a photo booth, a chandelier swing and make candles seem like they're floating in the air. Don't you think that's awesome or what?" Carlos said, Annaleise grinned. "Yeah, along with my decorations, this place will look like it came from a horror movie."

"And it's gonna get a whole lot better." A familiar voice cut in. They turned to see it was Jay, with four grocery bags filled with stinky cheese, deviled eggs, spicy chicken wings and many more. Jay put the bags on the floor and pulls out a bottle of spicy cider, pouring it into the cracked punch bowl on a coffee table.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up there, criminal. What do you think you're doing? We don't need this party getting out of hand." Annaleise said, a bit furious, grabbing the bottle out of Jay's hands and closing it. "And just how did you get this?"

"That's none of your concern. And that's where you are wrong. It's better if your party gets out of hand than Mal gets out of sorts." Jay said, grinning. He jumped over the back of the couch and sat down, putting his feet on the coffee table.

Annaleise sighed, knowing he had a point while Carlos and the henchman shrugged and just continued to work on decorating the room.

When the clock struck midnight, the guests started to arrive. When they entered the room, they saw neon lights on the wallpaper in shapes of skulls, fire, swords, etc. And it was all thanks to Harriet and his pirate crew, who brought them to the party. The Gastons came next and started challenging the pirate crew. They also chased any guest when they arrived.

People started playing bob-for-the-wormiest-apple in the tub, started swinging on the chandelier, and a dance off broke out by the band, which has Carlos' cousin, Diego De Vil as the lead singer of The Bad Apples.

More than a hour after the party started, there was a sharp knock that made everyone freeze and look at the door. Annaleise breathed in before saying the island's traditional greeting, "GO AWAY!"

The door opened to see Mal standing there in shiny purple leather. She looked at Carlos and said, "I'm not late, am I?"

Carlos answered, "Not at all, come in."

Annaleise could tell he was terrified. She just rolled her eyes and sigh heavily. She walked over to him and said, "You know, you don't have to be afraid of her. You can stand up for yourself."

Carlos looked at her, a bit surprised that she is seemingly giving him advise. "It's not that simple. Mal can get you banished from the public like her mother did to Evie and her mother."

"You may have a point but she's just going to walk over you like a carpet." Annaleise countered, frowning when she spotted Maleficent's daughter across the room with a cup of cider in her hand, looking like she didn't want to be there. "Plus, I'm a bit suspicious about this party. I am getting the feeling she is just using it as revenge. Revenge against Evie when she didn't invite her to her party. Jay is most likely working alongside her, too."

Carlos pondered her words and knew she was right. "But how is she gonna get revenge on her anyway? Mal's not going to do an easy tactic. She would do something very extreme, probably would try to hurt her."

Annaleise snapped her head up at that last part and was about to say something when the front doors opened, everyone turned to the newcomer. It was Evie, she was wearing a strapless ocean blue dress.

"Evie, I'm so glad you showed up. We were just about to play Seven Minutes In Heaven. And guess what? You get to go first." Mal said in a fake sweet voice.

"How about someone else go first?" Annaleise spoke up and everyone turned to her. Mal glared at her, annoyed that she is interrupting.

"Nah, Evie is perfect for this game." Mal responded, glaring at her, silently warning her to say something else. Annaleise glared back in defiance. Carlos nudges her side with his elbow making her look at him. He shook his head, telling her to knock it off. Annaleise turned back to Mal. "If you want someone to be first, I volunteer."

Carlos and Evie gaped at her in shock. Mal frowns for a second before she smirks. "If you want to be first, I'm not gonna stop you."

Carlos shook his head before saying, "But there isn't a closet here, so too bad. We can't play." He started playing with his fingers, hoping they would buy his lie. Annaleise looked at him with a eyebrow raised.

"Don't lie, I know you do have one." Mal said, confidently before walking out into the hallway through the side doors, with everyone following her. She stopped at a door that said, 'Cruella's Closet, STAY OUT.' Mal turned to Annaleise and said, "Ready, newbie?"

Annaleise looked at her, no emotions shown on her face. "Don't call me a newbie or you will regret it." Mal pretended to be scared of her before sneering at her. Mal opened the closet door and gestured for her to enter. Annaleise scoffed and she was about to go in before someone grabbed her hand and turning her around.

"You can't do this, no one is allowed in there. Mom will kill me if she found out someone was in there." Carlos argued, gripping her hand tightly. Annaleise squeezed his hand lightly before pulling her hand out of his. She went into the room briskly before he could protest. Evie bit her lip, deciding whether to agree with Carlos or not before she felt someone push her into the dark closet. The closet door then slammed shut, making Evie jump.

Annaleise blinked, her eyes getting used to the darkness. She saw Evie right in front of her before putting a hand on her shoulder. Evie yelped and turned around.

"Shh! Quiet! Listen to me, I'm only saying this once, I am not gonna repeat myself. This closet is filled with death traps, you know the ones meant to slice off a animal's leg when they step on it. There is a door at the other side of the room, that is our way out. Jump on my back and I'll get us to the other side. Understand?" Annaleise said, and Evie's eyes widened at her words. Annaleise turned around and Evie looked at her. "Hello, did you hear me? Jump on my back. **_Now._** " She said, emphasizing the last part. Evie wasted no time jumping on her back, not wanting to make her angry. She wrapped her arms around her neck and her legs around her waist, Annaleise hooking her arms under her knees. She started moving and Evie could hear metal snapping against metal as they moved, realizing that those sounds were the death traps snapping shut.

They were almost to the other side when Annaleise groaned in pain and she slowed down a bit but kept on going. Annaleise stopped after a few seconds and set Evie down. Annaleise knelt down on the floor and pulled up her pant leg, there was a cut on the back of her leg with blood running down her leg. Evie gasped softly before kneeling down next to her. "Hey, you okay?"

Annaleise bit her lip to keep in her pained groans, not wanting to show weakness. She smiled, not wanting the blue haired girl to worry. "Yeah, I'm gonna live. Come on, let's go." She stood up and limped towards the door, opening it. Bright light filled the room and the two girls covered their eyes until they got used to it. They then both walked out of the room. Annaleise looked down at her bleeding leg before pulling her pant leg down.

"You should really treat that wound or it's gonna get infected." Evie said, talking about the other girl's leg. Annaleise just shrugs before limping away. "The party is this way." Evie opened her mouth to say something before deciding against it and followed the limping girl.

They arrived at the front door of the room where the party is. Annaleise gestured to Evie that she stays quiet and to stay outside the room and Evie nodded in response. She pushed the door open slowly, making sure no one was watching before entering. Annaleise looked around the room, looking for Carlos. She spotted himat one of the side doors, with his arms crossed and walked as fast as she could with her injury. Carlos looked up, eyes lighting up at the sight of her. He half-jogged, half-walked towards her.

"Annaleise! Where's Evie? Are you injured?" Carlos asked, concern in his eyes. Annaleise grinned. "I'm fine, it's just a little scratch, no big deal. Evie is right outside. Let's get out of here." Carlos didn't argue, happy to have an excuse to leave the party. They walked (limped) toward the front doors and into the hallway. Evie was leaning against the wall. She looked up when the door opened and two familiar people came out.

"Come on, Evie. Let's ditch this party." Carlos said, eager to leave. Evie formed a smile on her face before walking towards the entrance of the building. They walked out into the warm night breeze. Annaleise sighed before turning to Carlos. "Hey, let's go to the lab. I really don't want to go home right now." Carlos nodded before walking towards the forest. Evie tapped Annaleise on the shoulder and asks, "There is a lab on the island?" Annaleise nodded before jerking her head towards the forest, silently telling her to follow them before walking off.


	3. Chapter 3

"Carlos! Too tight!" Annaleise yelped when Carlos pulled on the bandage around her leg a bit too tightly. Carlos looked at her for a second before continuing to wrap the gauze around her leg. "Sorry. You complaining about it is not helping."

They were in Carlos' lab that was a bit far from Hell Hall. The lab was filled with beakers, jars and vials containing neon-colored chemicals. Annaleise hissed in pain when Carlos tugged on the gauze again. "Carlos!"

"Sorry, sorry. Besides, I'm nearly done." While Carlos was wrapping Annaleise's injury, Evie was observing the vials of chemicals on the shelves. She picked up a jar holding something white and flaky.

"What's this stuff?"

Carlos tied up the bandage and stood up, turning towards Evie. "That's Sodium Polyacrylate, it's from Chem Lab. It was for a little experiment I was working on before." Evie nodded before putting it back on the shelf. Carlos grabbed his bag, and took out the wire-box contraption and set it on a nearby table. "Guys, I think I got the battery to work. Let's try it out." Evie stood beside him while Annaleise moved her chair closer to the table.

He pressed a few buttons and flicked a couple of switches. It sputtered to life for a few seconds before it died. Carlos sighs, disappointed. He closed his eyes before walking away and sitting down in a chair.

"Sorry guys, I thought it would work this time." Evie went over to his side and patted his shoulder. "It's okay. It will work someday."

Annaleise noticed that there was something wrong with the invention. Spending enough time with an inventor had taught her a few things about machinery. She saw a couple of wires in the wrong place and made to put them in the right place. After switching the wires, she pressed a button.

A powerful electric light shot out of the box, causing Annaleise to fly back into the wall and falling on her knees. Carlos and Evie screamed in surprise. The beam of light rose up to the plywood ceiling, blasting a hole in the treehouse roof and up towards the sky.

"Oh my god. What just happened?" Carlos asked, frantically. Annaleise shakily shrugged, panting slightly from having the air slammed out of her lungs when she hit the wall. "I fixed your machine, turned it on and that's what happened." She gestured to the hole in the ceiling. "Hey, do you guys feel that?" She had started to feel something stirring inside her.

"If you mean feeling like something is happening in your body, then yeah. I feel it too." Evie replied. Carlos nodded. "Me too. Do you think that electrical beam had penetrated the barrier and made a hole in it?"

Suddenly the box started beeping rapidly and three beams of light hit the trio. Carlos, Evie and Annaleise then fell to the floor, unconscious.

Annaleise POV

I groaned, sitting up. "What happened? Just what is this place?" I opened my eyes to see a room filled with bookcases, full of books. Library came to my mind. This library is not on the island, I know that but I have no clue where it is though.

"Why am I in a library?" I asked out loud, not really expecting anyone to answer but someone did. "Why are you in the library? Studying for exams, of course." I turned around to see a teenage boy standing there. He had ebony black hair with bangs that slightly cover his emerald green eyes. He is wearing a black leather jacket with a black muscle-style undershirt, black pants and black boots.

"Anyways, this is boring. Let's go have fun." He says, holding out his hand for me to take. I stared at him, still confused on what's happening. But before I could say anything, I fell into unconsciousness.

No One POV

Carlos groaned, sitting up slowly. "What the hell was all that?" He looked around and saw the other two girls still unconscious. He ran over to Evie and started shaking her and then doing the same to Annaleise. "Evie. Evie, wake up. Annaleise, Evie! Come on, wake up." Evie started to stir, opening her eyes slowly. She sat up and looked at Carlos. "What just happened? I had this weird dream. I was with this girl in a room. She was talking to me."

"I also had a weird dream but it was a boy. I've never seen him before on the island. These dreams are probably the result of the beam that hit us. I'm also guessing that Annaleise is having a dream about someone." Right after Carlos said that, Annaleise sat up abruptly, breathing heavily.

"Annaleise, you okay? Did you have a dream about a boy or a girl?" Evie asked. Annaleise nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Evie and I had a dream about a person of our own. They're most likely a result of the power core." Carlos explained. Annaleise then heard a noise in the corner of the room. She turned her head towards the sound and saw the television, rapidly switching from channel to channel. There was a few pictures she could see, there was a talking dog, then it was on a boy (looked way too much like Carlos) who was hitting on his nanny, four people who had bionic powers, and then it switched to two girls who can time travel. "Carlos, something is wrong with your TV."

Carlos and Evie looked at the TV, staring at it in awe. Carlos stammered out, "I-it worked. Oh my god, it worked! IT WORKED! YEAH!" Annaleise face-palmed and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Carlos complained, holding the back of his head. Annaleise gestured towards the TV and glared at him. "You're celebrating with what just happened?! You can celebrate later!"

Carlos just huffed and crossed his arms. "Alright, alright! But we have to keep this a secret, okay?" Annaleise nodded and Evie crossed her fingers behind her back. Annaleise sighed deeply, "Let's just hope this doesn't change anything on the island."

Even though she said it, Annaleise can't help but feel that everything is gonna change.

The Next Morning

Annaleise yawned and stretched as she sat up. She got up and went to her dresser. She put on her usual clothes, grabbed her bag and climbed out onto the pipe, running to the other side onto the roof. She started running across the rooftops towards Hell Hall.

Annaleise wanted to visit Carlos and help him with cleaning the place. She knew what would happen if his mother found out about the party. She would freak out like a maniac. When she arrived, she went inside without knocking. She saw a few guests who hadn't left yet and she escorted them out the front door quickly before they could realize what's happening.

"Hey, pirate girl." Annaleise turned around to see it Carlos' henchman. They were covered in streamers and crepe paper in their hair. She rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Sherry. And I'm no 'pirate girl.'"

"My name is Harry, will it kill you to remember that?" Annaleise pretended to think about it before answering with, "I think it will kill me if I do, Sherry. Now, go home before I kick both your butts home." Harry grumbled before dragging Jace outside.

Annaleise walked into the main room to find it a mess. She saw Diego and his crew packing their gear. Diego noticed her and smirked cockily. "Well, if it isn't pirate girl. Nice to see you again." Annaleise knew he didn't mean that and became annoyed when he called her 'pirate girl'.She growled, "Don't call me that if you want to live. Can't wait for your ugly face to get out of here."

The singer just chuckled. "Aw, you have a crush on me. I'm flattered." Annaleise raised a eyebrow in disbelief before lunging at him and pinning him to the ground. She lifted a fist into the air about to punch him and Diego put his arms in front of his face. "Okay, okay! I take it back, I take it back!"

She smirked and let him go. He scrambled to his feet and glared at her. She just snickered. "Even though it was fun talking to you, I'm gonna go find Carlos." She turned and walked towards Carlos' room on the second floor. When she arrived, she just walked in without knocking. The room was mostly empty, besides the worn-out mattress in the corner.

"Carlos?" Annaleise called out, but no answer. She was about to close the door but she heard something and opened it again. She strained her ears to hear the sound again. 'Meow.' She looked down and saw Beelzebub, a little black cat with horn-like ears and a spiky tail. She looked up at Annaleise, and meowed again.

Annaleise bent down and petted her ears, making Beelzebub purr. A door creaked in the hallway and Annaleise peeked out of the doorway to see Carlos in the same clothes from yesterday.

"Hey, nerd. What's up?" She leaned against the wall as he walked up to her. "Nothing much. Just taking a walk around. And what are you doing here?"

"What? I can't come help you clean this place up?" Annaleise huffed, pouting a little bit. Carlos snorted. "Because you never did before and when you did, you wanted something. So, what do you want?"

"Nothing, I swear. I just want a bit of company before we head to school." She shrugged before going to the stairwell and taking the stairs down, two at a time, Carlos following quickly behind her.

"Are you feeling alright? You're not acting like yourself. And I can tell when you're lying, so don't lie to me." Carlos crossed his arms and stared pointedly at her. She shifted from one foot to another from the intensity of his gaze. "What was he like? The boy in your dream." Carlos averted his eyes somewhere else when she said that. "I think he was from Auradon. He seemed like...like he was a prince."

"So was mine. Do...do you think we'll meet them? Someday, somehow, someway?" Annaleise asked, staring at him. Carlos opened his mouth to say something before hesitating. "I don't know. Maybe our subconscious made them up and we just think that they are real."

Annaleise nodded before walking out the front door. "C'mon, let's get out of here. I'll help you clean the place after school."


	4. Chapter 4

Annaleise and Carlos exited Hell Hall. When they reached the village with the people bumbling around as usual, Annaleise managed to steal two half-rotten apples. She bit into one while handing the other to the inventor. He gave her a look and he made sure no one was watching before grabbing it. "So, tell me. Why are you being generous? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're becoming Auradonian."

Annaleise choked on the food she was swallowing and started coughing violently, hunching over. Carlos chuckled before smacking her back with his free hand. Annaleise managed to stop coughing and stood straight up, glaring at the boy next to her. "No, I am not. We know it's illegal to actually be nice."

Carlos just looked away, hiding his grin. Annaleise only sighed at that and rolling her eyes before starting to speed up her pace. "Huh? H-hey! Wait up!" Carlos started to jog after her but then he crashed into someone, resulting in both of them falling to the ground. Carlos grunted from the impact of the body that falls onto his. The person on top of him scrambled off of him and stood over him. "Will you watch where you're going? Are you blind?"

Carlos climbed onto his feet and looked to see a slender, dark skinned girl with green-yellow eyes, amaranth pink lips and long black hair with light grey highlights, tied into pigtails. She has four dot markings on each cheek and has two violet streaks across her right eyebrow. On top of the left side of her head sits a small amaranth purple top hat with blue feathers, a scarlet dress with puffy short sleeves, and a amaranth purple waistcoat with gold lining and buttons with red and green feathers on the left side collar. She wears fading purple tights with face patterns that resemble Shadow Demons and wears black and white wedge heel shoes. She also wears two golden vine bracelets around her wrists and a flower like medallion around her neck. She stood there glaring at him slightly, with her arms crossed.

"I am so sorry. I didn't see that. you were in front of me." Carlos apologized before walking around her. "And I'd love to chat but I have to go find...someone." He then turned and ran down the street, his eyes scanning the crowd of people for his brunette companion. He finally spotted her sitting on the steps in front of the library. He ran over to her, panting heavily. "Never...do that...again."

Annaleise just smirked and took another bite of her apple. "You can't tell me what to do." He just sit down next to her and snatched her half finished apple despite her protests. Carlos took a huge bite out of the apple before giving it back to Annaleise. She exclaimed, "Whoa, not cool, nerd!"

"Speaking of, shouldn't we be getting to school?" Carlos asked. Annaleise threw the apple, and the apple hit a passerby on the head. The stranger glared at her but she glared at him more fiercely and he scurried off. "Yeah, we should. But what's that?" She pointed behind him and he looked behind his shoulder. Carlos looked around but saw nothing. He turned back to Annaleise but she was gone. Carlos looked around frantically before seeing her running down the street. He starts running after her and he shouted at her, "HEY! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STOP THAT!" She just cackled and sped up, with Carlos catching up to her.

When they arrived at Dragon Hall, they walked to their class, which was Weird Science and it was Carlos' favorite class. They both sat in the front row since Carlos loved this class and he didn't want to miss anything if he sat in the back of the class. While Carlos looked forward to this class, Annaleise didn't. She liked the subject but she hated the teacher, Yen Sid. She claims that he is always sabotaging her grade on the subject on purpose.

After all the students sit down, the teacher started talking. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." A scrawny, bespectacled boy raised his hand but Yen Sid ignored him. The scrawny boy is Reza, he is Carlos' rival. He is as smart as he is annoying and irritating. He loves to use big words, even if he didn't have to use them. Carlos always bested him in mostly everything. Yen Sid continued speaking."Just because there is no magic on the Isle of The Lost does not mean we cannot make our own. In fact, we can create everything we need for a spell right in this classroom. The answer to our situation is right in front of us. From fireworks to explosions, everything can be made from science."

"Booooorrring science." One of the Gaston twins drawled out. Annaleise nodded in agreement and Carlos lightly slapped her on the arm. The other twin turned towards his brother and punched him in the arm. "And also, what is that smell? Oh wait, it's you!" The twin that spoke first retaliated by kicking the other boy off his chair. Yen Sid rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Knock it off, you two. Please. I'm actually talking about the magic of science. Annaleise, will you please pay attention?" Annaleise stopped making a sword origami and looked at him. She rolled her eyes before putting the origami in her pocket.

Reza was now waving his hand frantically, and he couldn't help but speak out. "Excuse me. Excuse me, professor." Yen Sid sighed and said, "Yes, Reza?" Reza stood up from his chair. "Irregardless, the irrelevancy of my classmates' simplistical commentation bears no meaningfulness to this experiment, in point of fact." And its translation is that the Gastons were stupid, which was basically obvious to everyone.

Reza opened his mouth to speak before Annaleise spoke. "Hey, nerd. Quit talking, will you? You're giving everyone here a headache." Reza looked furious and retorted. "Don't call me a nerd. At least, I'm making something of myself and be somebody important in the future. And you will be stuck here with your boyfriend." Annaleise quickly stood up and launched herself at Reza. She punched him in the stomach a few times before punching him in the face, Reza screaming at her to stop. Annaleise could distantly hear the other students cheering her on.

Immediately, Carlos ran over to the brawling scene and wrapped his arms around Annaleise's waist and pulled her off. She tried to get out of Carlos' arms and get back to beating up Reza. Carlos only tightened his grip on her and pulled her to her seat while trying to calm her down. "Annaleise, Annaleise. Calm down, calm down or you'll get into trouble." But Annaleise didn't listen and continued to struggle. Yen Sid grew fed up and he slammed a textbook on his desk. The whole classrom became silent. Annaleise ceased her struggling and looked at him, breathing heavily. "Annaleise, go to the principal's office." Annaleise started to protest but Yen Sid stopped her with a glare. She turned her head to Carlos and he got the message, he lets go of her waist and she resentfully took her stuff and started to leave the room.

Reza climbed to his feet, panting heavily. "Yeah, that's right. Leave, you coward. And maybe later, Carlos will give you a big kiss for your hurt pride." Annaleise quickly turned around and jumped onto the tables, running across to get to the offender. She jumped off the table in front of Reza and used all her strength to kick him where it counts. He yowled out his pain, crossing his legs and covering his groin with his hands. She also gave him a harsh slap that caused him to fall to the floor in pain. She kneeled down on one leg next to him and said, "Get this through your thick skull. Carlos and I aren't dating. He was never my boyfriend in the first place. If you ever say that again, what you'll be getting will be worse than a beating. Understand me?" The whimpering boy nodded and she stood up, facing the class. "The same goes for the rest of you. Do you understand?" Half the class nodded slowly and she walked out of the room and headed to the principal's office.

Annaleise arrived at the office and knocked. The door opened on its' own and she peeked inside. No one was inside, so she let herself inside. She walked to his desk and saw that there was a lot of papers on it and crystal ball. None of them catches her eye but one does. It was labeled 'Map Of The Isle Of The Lost.' She picked it up and saw there was no writing on it. "What the hell is this? Where's the ink?" Annaleise flipped the paper to see a message on it. 'Warning - don't let anyone see this map. In case of emergency, use the antidote to make the ink visible.'

"Invisible ink? Nice." Annaleise got an idea. "I know how I can make the ink visible. By making Carlos create the antidote." She folded the map up and put it in her book. She heard footsteps and she quickly sat down on one of the two chairs in front of the desk. The door creaked open and Dr. Facilier walked in. He glanced at her and let out an inaudible sigh. "Well, if it isn't the troublemaker."

Annaleise replied, "Well, if it isn't the magician." Dr. F rolled his eyes and sat down at his desk. "What, pray tell, are you doing here?" She decided not to tell him, so she won't get detention. "Uh, Yen Sid had wanted to know when you have spare time, so he can talk to you about his students." He stared at her, not sure if she's telling the truth. He shrugged it off and said, "You can tell him I can talk to him later this afternoon. Now, shoo. Get back to class." She mock-saluted him and walked into the hallway. After she closed the door, she snickered and muttered to herself, "Sucker."

* * *

Annaleise skipped school the rest of the day and she waited at Hell Hall for Carlos after school. While she waited, she decided to start on cleaning the place. After an hour, the place was cleaned and Carlos came home. He took one look around before saying, "So, I made the Broomba for nothing?"

Annaleise finished putting away the broom and turned towards to him. "No, you could use it for another time when this place gets messy again." Carlos crossed his arms and pouted, muttering. "If there is gonna be a next time."

Suddenly, there was a resounding knock. Carlos gave Annaleise a confused look before opening the door and then slamming it shut. "Go away, haven't you guys done enough?" A person on the other side demanded, "Open up. It's important!" Carlos shouted, "No!" A voice Annaleise recognized as Evie said, "Carlos! Something happened with that machine of yours the other night. Something big." Annaleise's eyes widened slightly in shock. "Come on, let us in." Evie pleaded.

Annaleise opened the door a little bit and said, "We would let you in but you broke his trust and I never really trusted you in the first place, so we can't let you in. And whatever problem you have, we don't want to be involved. So bye." She closed the door and locked it. Jay started pounding on the door and yelled, "Let us in, pirate girl or else!"

"Or else what? You're gonna start crying?" Annaleise taunted. Jay growled, "That's it. I'm kicking this door down." Annaleise and Carlos shared a look before Carlos nodded at her. She heard Jay starting to scream. She unlocked the door and opened it, and Jay comes flying in with a foot in the air. Jay looks at them in surprise before he fell onto his back. He let out a grunt of pain and then stood up. "Not cool, bro." Mal and Evie walked in after he said that. Evie said, "Please you guys, just hear us out."

"Fine, and what did my machine do?" He glowered at them but seemed to regret it when Mal raised an eyebrow. "I mean, care to enlighten me?" Mal turned to Evie. "Evie?" The blue haired girl took a deep breath. "Okay, on the night of the party, Annaleise switched on Carlos' machine, and when it turned on, it let out this huge blast of light and it burned a hole through the tree house ceiling. It went straight through the dome. And also three beams of light hit the three of us and-"

"And the TV suddenly came alive with all these colors and new shows we've never seen before." Annaleise interrupted, earning her some looks from Carlos and Evie. Mal turned to Carlos and asked, "You really think that your machine did that? Carlos shrugged. "It might have."

"And do you think there's a possibility it let magic in?" Jay asked. Carlos looked at him, confused. "Magic in? I don't know. Why?" Mal seemed to be thinking about her options before saying, "Alright, I'll tell you. Jay already knows but this has to stay between us and no hidden backsies." She looked at Evie when she said that, Evie nodded. Mal continued. "Okay, so on the night of the party, my mother's raven, Diablo came back to life and he swore he had seen my mother's missing scepter, the Dragon's Eye spark to life as well."

"No way." Annaleise said in disbelief. Jay smacked her on her arm and said, "Yes way. That magic has penetrated the barrier surrounding this island." Annaleise shoved his shoulder and Jay moved to shove her back but Carlos grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from his arm's reach. Mal rolled her eyes and says, "And now my mother gave me the task of getting the Dragon's Eye back for her. And we should see that box of yours, too. Let's see if it will work again."Carlos nodded before turning around and heading towards Cruella's closet but Annaleise stopped him. "Wait, you don't need to get it. I have it." She walked over to her bag and took out the wired box. She handed it to Carlos. He gave her a questioning look and she shrugged. He flipped the switch but nothing happened. He flipped it again and got the same result. "Sorry, I think it was a one time thing."

 **BEEP**

 **BEEP**

Annaleise looked at the box. "Why is it beeping?" Carlos looked at her and said, "I don't know." Evie suggested, "Maybe it's a beacon, mostly likely connected to the scepter." Annaleise became thoughtful. "If the Dragon's Eye somewhere on the island, it'd have to be somewhere no one has ever been to before." Carlos nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but we're not in luck. We don't exactly have a map of the island."

Annaleise abruptly remembered what had happened earlier. "Actually, we do have a map of the island." Everyone looked at her in confusion. Mal asked, "What do you mean?" Annaleise just rolled her eyes and went to her bookbag, pulling out her books. She rummaged through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She showed it to them. "See? All we need is the antidote for invisible ink and we have a map!"

"Whoa, where did you get that?" Carlos asked, impressed. Annaleise smirked. "I might have stole it from Dr. F." Jay looked at her shock. "You stole that from the principal of our school?" Annaleise nodded and turned to Carlos. "So, will you make the antidote?" He nodded. Mal smirks. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."


	5. Chapter 5

"And...Voilà! The antidote to invisible ink!" Carlos presented it to the group. The five teens are currently in Carlos' lab, watching the white haired teen create an antidote to invisible ink.

"Great, now stop holding it and pour it on the map." Mal said, impatient. Carlos shrugged and did what she said.

Just like magic, the Isle of the Lost began to form before their eyes, including the hidden and forbidden zones. The Forbidden Fortress appeared, a menacing-looking castle of spiky walls and twisty towers, located on the edge of the island. Right in the middle of Nowhere.

"Okay, according to the map we would have to walk way past the village right to the edge of the shore, and from there the path would take us to the fortress." Annaleise observed.

"Alright, let's do this." Jay cheered.

* * *

 **At the edge of the Island...**

The path away from the village and toward the shore was smooth at first, but soon became rocky. The rocks hurt their feet but they tumbled on, trying to ignore the numbness in their feet.

Carlos was leading with the map, the beeping box in his pocket, Annaleise right behind him, then Jay, Evie and lastly, Mal.

"Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go," Carlos sang under his breath. Annaleise lightly slapped him on the head and he turned to her, an indignant expression on his face.

"No singing. It's annoying and not helpful." She supplied before pushing him faintly to go forward. Carlos exhaled before continuing on.

Annaleise noticed that the fog that was further ahead just gotten closer and soon, they were all consumed by it.

"Hey! What's that?!" Jay squawked, pointing to something a few feet away before hiding behind a rock. "Hide! Now!"

Evie squealed before ducking behind a tree. Carlos gasped and tried to climb up the same tree Evie's hiding behind. Mal just stood there, frozen before Annaleise grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards a tree.

The mysterious creature growled before spreading its wings. Carlos and Evie screamed loudly while Jay ran over to the tree and held onto Mal. Annaleise's eyes widened, as she recognized that growl.

"Hybrid?" Annaleise said and the creature stopped growling and dropped his wings. A black furred wolf-like creature with black wings with the tips neon red trotted over to Annaleise and sat down at her feet.

"You know this hideous beast?" Mal exclaimed in disgust. Hybrid growled at that, obviously not liking the insult.

"Yeah, I got him at Evie's birthday party. Nobody knows what he is though, they think he's an hybrid of some sort. Hence his name." Annaleise explained while petting Hybrid.

Carlos shakily jumped down from the tree and went to stand near Jay, hiding behind him. Evie slightly eased out of her hiding place and hurried to hide behind Jay as well. Jay shot them both with a deadpan look on his face. "Really?" They both shrugged and backed away.

Jay turned his attention back to the creature in front of him. "I also got a pet, or pets for that matter, at Evie's party. Two electric eels named Lagan and Derelict. You know from Ursula's eels, Flotsam and Jetsam."

"I got cat from Lucifer's litter, Beezlebub. She's my evil sidekick." Carlos shared, looking down.

"Me, too! I got a parrot, Othello who was a child of Iago's." Evie said.

Evie turned towards Mal. "What's your sidekick, Mal?"

"I didn't get one," Mal grimaced, glaring at her offender, "Do you have short-term memory?"

Evie flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Well, we've got to get going. Hybrid, go home." Annaleise ordered, Hybrid giving her hand a lick before spreading his wings and flapping them. He lifted himself off the floor and flew off into the mist.

"Off into the unknown we go." Jay commented as they started walking again.

Few minutes later, they find themselves at the edge of the gray fog that surrounded the island. The fog was so thick, it was impossible to see what lay beyond it. It would have entailed a walk of faith to see what was on the other side. And throughout all of their lives, the five had been told to keep away from the fog, to stay back from the edge of the gray.

"Who goes first?" Carlos asked, nervous. Annaleise pressed her finger to the tip of her nose and quickly said, "Not it."

"Not it!" Jay and Evie repeated in unison with Carlos not that far behind. They all turned to Mal.

"I'll go, cowards." Mal scoffed before walking a bit slowly into the fog. She disappeared from sight once she walked in. The four held their breath when they can't see her.

"It's fine. Get over here!" Mal called from within the fog.

"If you say so." Annaleise said as she cautiously walked into the fog. The others followed suit.

At last, they were at the edge of Nowhere. The five teens looked down. They were standing literally at the water's edge. One more step, and they would have fallen off the rocky piece of land that was the Isle of the Lost and into the deep sea below, to become an alligator's dinner.

"Whoa." Carlos said, in frightened awe.

"Holy Lucifer, what the heck are we supposed to do now?" Mal asked.

"I don't know, but this thing won't shut up," Carlos said. The compass in his box was beeping wildly now, and the closer Carlos stepped toward the strip of rocky, foggy beach, the faster it beeped.

"It's over there. It has to be," he said, pointing to the sea. Annaleise's eyebrow quirked up at Carlos. "You're saying we have to swim in there? No way, José. We're going to have to find a boat."

"And where do you suggest we find one, Ms. Expert? At the sailboat store?" Mal said, glaring at her.

"Wait, guys. There's more on the map." Carlos said and the others crowded around him. More ink had appeared, and this time, they saw that the fortress wasn't technically on the Isle of the Lost at all but was located on its own island, or rather its own piece of floating rock, which just so happened to be named the Isle of the Doomed.

"Well, that's so cheery." Carlos said, not meaning it in the slightest.

"And just how are we supposed to get over there?" Evie asked. Mal studied the map and pointed to a spot labeled GOBLIN WHARF.

"We'll hitch a ride from one of our friendly neighborhood goblins to row us over, of course," Mal said, pushing past them and starting up the muddy beach toward the docks where the goblins unloaded the Auradon barges.

"There's no such thing as a friendly goblin," Carlos sighed, but like the rest of them, he followed behind Mal.

They arrived quickly at the busy port. Mostly because the alligators had taken to snapping at them from the shallow water by the beach, and they'd sprinted, screaming, toward the dock.

The wharf was bustling with activity. Goblins pushed their way past the five villainous teens, emptying cargo from the big Auradon ships that were allowed in and out of the magic dome. They placed the rotting and rotten goods onto the splintering wooden boardwalk and jumped on and off each other's makeshift rafts and boats. They hooted and hollered in their Goblin tongue, tossing bags of scraps and leftovers—clothing, food, cosmetics, electronics, everything the people on Auradon didn't want anymore or had no use for, onto teetering rickshaws to sell at the market.

"We'll need to pay for passage," Annaleise said. "They're not going to take us over there for free."

The five of them emptied their pockets to pool enough of a sum of trinkets and food to pay their way across to the Isle of the Doomed. It took some endless negotiating—Jay did most of the talking as he spoke a bit of Goblin from having worked at the shop—but they finally secured a spot on a scrap boat. That is a boat that collected anything and everything that fell off the Auradon Dumpsters. It was a scavenger of scavengers, the lowest of the bottom feeders.

As it turned out, a goblin's boat was not constructed to hold four teenage villains. The floating wooden box creaked and groaned as Mal and the others boarded.

"Well, this is great." Annaleise said, sarcastically. Evie didn't grasp that she wasn't being honest.

"Great?! This is _so_ not great!" Evie said, as some of the sea water splashed on her back. Annaleise rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Funny how different things look from far away, huh?" Carlos said, as he stared at the Isle of The Lost. The other four followed his line of eyesight to the island. The forest was lush and green around the edges of the island, and the rocky beach jutted out dramatically into a rolling blanket of navy-blue water. In the distance, Mal could see Bargain Castle. From far away, it seemed to be gleaming in the fading sunlight.

"Yeah. Whatever you say." Mal said, turning away from the island.

* * *

Mal could only be sure they'd arrived at the Isle of the Doomed because the engine had stopped. They still couldn't see five feet in front of them. Mal scrambled blindly out of the boat and onto the rocky beach, followed quickly by the rest of the team. The goblin quickly sped off.

The fog lifted slightly as they made their way through the brush. Soon they were standing in front of a gate covered with a painful-looking bristly forest of thorns. And beyond the gate, high on a craggy mountaintop, stood a large black castle, a ruined, forbidding wreck silhouetted against the night sky.

The thorns around the gate grew thick and twisted, so sharp, they would stab or scrape anyone who dared come near. Worse, the thorns were covered with deadly poisonous spiders; and the whole place had a toxic and sinister air.

They stood, paralyzed, unable and unwilling to figure out what to do next, while the black box in Carlos's hands kept beeping incessantly. If it was indeed communicating with the Dragon's Eye, it was clear that the scepter was somewhere behind the thorny gates.

Annaleise broke the silence.

"So, what do you think we're going to find up ahead?" She asked. Jay glanced at her and shrugged before digging through various pockets. He gave the small dagger knife to Annaleise, a half of a sharp scissor to Mal, a red-handled axe to Evie, bug spray to Carlos and took out the other half of the scissor for himself.

"You carry an axe in your pocket?" Carlos said, as he sprayed a tarantula off his shoulder and it fell to the floor, dead.

"Don't you guys?" Jay asked. All of them shook their heads, 'no'.

"Well, when you steal enough things from all over the place, I find that you always arrive prepared."

Annaleise had to admit that Jay's loot came in handy right then.

Jay cut a path with his sharp half scissor, and the others followed close behind. Mal slashed at a branch of thorns with her sharp half scissor, and the branch withered and shrank. Evie hacked with her axe and Annaleise did the same with her dagger with Carlos spraying the bug spray.

It was hard work, but they were used to it by now. Deeper they went into the dark forest, making their way to the castle above.

* * *

Every moment of this adventure had already proven to be a little more adventurous than Carlos had anticipated.

This revelation might have been a problem for the average man of science who didn't like to run the tombs and who kept to the labs as much as possible when Annaleise isn't dragging him around, making sure he's eating, under the guise of needing him for the 'answers to their Weird Science homework.'

Sure, Carlos had felt a little sea-sick on the journey over to the Isle of the Doomed, but he'd been able to hold it down, hadn't he?

If he looked at it like that, he'd already proven himself to be a better adventurer than anyone could have reasonably expected.

That's what Carlos told himself, anyway.

Then he told himself that he'd done better than anyone else in Weird Science would have. He actually laughed out loud at the thought of his classroom nemesis in this current situation, which had prompted Jay to shove him and ask if he didn't think he was taking the whole mad scientist thing a little too literally.

"I'm not crazy," Carlos reassured his fellow adventurers. Annaleise muttered, "That laugh says otherwise."

Carlos ignored her in favor of marching ahead. He was more than glad to find a real path leading up to the dark castle on the hill above them.

Plain old dirt and rock had never looked so good.

Until it began to rain, and the dirt became mud, and the rock became slippery. Annaleise nearly fell but managed to keep her balance.

Carlos' invention was now beeping at regular intervals, its sensor light flashing more brightly and more quickly with every step that drew them closer to the fortress.

"The Dragon's Eye is definitely up there," Carlos said excitedly, feeling a scientist's enthusiasm at a working experiment. "If this thing is right, I'm picking up on some kind of massive surge in electrical energy. If there is a hole in the dome, it's leaking magic here somehow, different from the Isle of the Lost."

"Maybe the hole is right above this place," said Evie.

"Yeah, I can feel it too." Mal nodded, still moving forward along the path.

"Do you guys?" She stopped and looked at them, shielding her eyes from the rain with one hand.

Carlos looked at her in surprise. "Feel what? This?" He held up his box, and it beeped in her face. Mal jumped back, startled, and Jay laughed.

"Whoops," Carlos said. "See what I mean? The energy is surging."

Mal looked embarrassed. "I don't know for sure. Maybe I'm imagining it, but it almost feels like there's some kind of magnet pulling me up the path."

"That is so creepy," Evie said, stopping to wipe sweat off her forehead with the edge of her cape. "Like, it's your destiny, literally, calling."

Carlos scrunched up his nose. "Technically, it would actually be _calling_ her."

Jay started laughing before realizing something. His head whipped around, eyes searching before saying, "Guys, we have a problem."

"What is it?" Evie asked.

"Annaleise is gone."


	6. Chapter 6

"Annaleise!" Carlos called out. Evie repeated after him but there was no response.

"Wait, guys. Do you hear that?" Mal said, straining her ears to hear that sound again over the roaring rain. The others became quiet and they heard it.

"-los! Guys! Over here!" They turned to the path where they came from to see Annaleise standing at the end of the path.

Carlos cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled over the rain, "Annaleise! What are you doing down there?!"

"I don't know how I got here! One minute, I was with you and the next, I'm here!" Annaleise yelled, her hair matted down on her face. "Keep going! I'll catch up!"

"But-!" Carlos says before Mal interrupts him. "She'll be fine, Carlos. But she's right. We've got to keep moving!"

Carlos gave an worried look at Annaleise and she gave him an thumbs-up. He sighed in defeat before turning to the path that leads to the castle. "Alright, Mal, you lead the way."

Mal nodded before starting to walk up the muddy pathway, the others followed.

They'd only made it up past the next curving switchback in the path when Mal stumbled and fell, sending a slide of rock down the trail behind her.

"Who-ahh," Mal yelped, her arms flailing. The dark stones were so slick with rain that she couldn't right herself, only slipping on the rocks again.

Evie caught Mal before she tumbled headfirst down the stony path. Both girls flew backward into Jay, who almost toppled Carlos behind him.

"I got you," said Evie, helping Mal to regain her balance.

"Yeah, and I got you," Jay said.

"Which is great for everyone but me," Carlos said, barely keeping one arm around his device as the other held Jay off him. "The human doorstop."

"I am definitely in the wrong shoes for this," Evie said, wincing at the sight of her own feet.

"We need flippers, not shoes. The rain has turned this whole trail into a mud river. Maybe we should all hold hands," Jay suggested. "We'll work better if we're all together."

"Oh, so suddenly we're in the middle of a fairytale? Where we sing songs about friendship and romance?" Mal said in disgust. "Hell, why don't we just move to Auradon after this?"

Carlos tried not to smile as he looked back at their fifth member of the team. She was a bit closer than before but it would take her a few minutes to reach them.

"Do you have a better idea?" Jay looked embarrassed.

"If you wanted to hold my hand, you know, you could have just asked," teased Evie, as she offered it to Jay, waggling her fingers.

"Well, now," Jay winked. "You don't say."

Evie laughed. "Don't worry, Jay, you're cute—but thieves aren't my style."

"I wasn't worried," said Jay smoothly, grasping her hand in his firm grip. "I just don't feel like taking a mud bath today."

"You know, from a physics perspective, it does make sense. If you want to talk about Newton's second and third laws," Carlos added, trying to sound reassuring. "You know, momentum and force, and all that."

"What he said." Jay said, holding his hand out to Mal. She hesitantly took it and held it tightly.

Carlos watched him, wondering if Jay and Evie were flirting, and if that was why Mal seemed mad. No. Mal and Jay bickered like siblings. And Jay and Evie were just trying to cover up the fact that they were scared. Jay had told him earlier that he thought Evie was cute, all right, but he thought of her like he did Mal, which meant he didn't think of her at all. Carlos thought that if the girls were had been their sisters, Mal would have been their annoying, grumpy sister, Evie would have been the manipulative, pretty one and Annaleise would have been the insecure yet protective sister, even though she tries to hide it but he knows better. And if Jay had been his brother, he'd be the kind who was either laughing at you or punching you when he wasn't busy stealing your stuff.

The longer he thought about it, the more Carlos decided it wasn't so bad to be an only child, after all.

Mal held her hand out to Carlos, who grabbed it as if it were a lifesaver, seeing as he knew his physics better than any of them. Carlos then felt someone grab his hand and he turned to see Annaleise, her clothes all muddied up. She smirked at him before wiping hair away from her face.

Somewhat awkwardly, and little by little, the five of them pulled and pushed and helped each other slosh their way up the muddy path, sweaty palms and muddy ankles and cold feet and all.

Before long the pathway curved once again, and now the thick rain cloud surrounding it seemed to part on either side of the four adventurers, revealing a sudden and dramatic vista—what appeared to be a long and slender stone bridge, half-shrouded in mist, that jutted out above a chasm in the rock directly in front of them.

"It's just a bridge," Carlos said, holding up his box. "But we definitely have to cross it. Look—" The light was flashing so brightly and so quickly now that he covered the sensor with one hand.

"Duh," Jay said.

"It's not just a bridge," Mal said, in a low voice, staring at the gray shape in front of her. "It's her bridge. Maleficent's bridge. And it's pulling me. I have to cross it. It wants me to get to the other side."

"It's not the bridge I would be worried about right now," Annaleise said, looking into the distance. "Look!"

Beyond the bridge and mist, a black castle rose from a pillar of stone. The bridge was the only way to reach the castle, as sheer cliffs surrounded the black fortress on all other sides.

But the castle itself was so forbidding, it didn't exactly look like a place that wanted to be reached.

"That's it," Mal breathed. "That has to be the Forbidden Fortress." The darkest place on their dark isle—Maleficent's old lair, and ancestral home.

"Sweet," Jay said. "That's one sick shack."

Evie studied it from behind him, still shivering. "And I thought our castle was drafty."

"I can't believe that we actually found it." Carlos stared from his box to the castle.

Annaleise grinned in disbelief. "And I can't believe it was so close to the island all along."

Mal's eyes were dark, and her expression was impossible to read. She looked almost stunned, Carlos thought. "I guess that explains the rain. The Forbidden Fortress hides itself in a shroud of fog and mist. It's like a moat, I guess."

Carlos examined the air around him. "Of course it is. A defensive mechanism, built into the atmosphere itself."

"I'm sure my mother designed it to keep everyone she didn't want out."

"Which would every living thing that comes across this place." Annaleise said, stating the implication.

Carlos found it hard to look away from the black tower on the hill. No wonder the citizens of the Isle of the Lost were told to keep away. Here was concrete proof of villainy, of the power of darkness and infamy.

Malefient's darkness.

It wasn't just any evil. What loomed in front of them was the most powerful and most storied darkness in the kingdom.

Carlos suddenly felt it—the magnetic pull Mal had tried to describe. He could feel it thrumming in the air, in the very stones beneath his feet. Even if magic was no longer a factor, there was power here, and history.

"Feel that?" Carlos held his vibrating hand up into the air. Annaleise let out an shaky sigh as she felt something come over her. Something that's trying to pull her somewhere.

"I can too," Evie said, picking up a rock from the mud. It rattled in her fingers as she held it.

"Destiny," she announced dramatically.

Jay pointed at the lightning that crackled in air above the black turrets. "Me too. I guess it's time."

Mal didn't say a word. She only stared.

"Hold on, now. We're not in any rush," Carlos said. "We need to do this right, or—" He didn't finish the sentence. He just shrugged.

Then he caught Mal's gaze and knew she felt the same way.

"Look," Jay said, yanking back an armful of overgrown vines that covered the stony steps leading up to the main ramp of the bridge. He tossed them to the side.

"What are those horrible, ugly creatures?" Evie made a face. "No, thanks. I'll stay on this side of those things."

Because now that the vines were gone, they could see that the entire bridge appeared to be guarded by ancient stony gargoyles. The winged gryphons glared down at them from where they perched, flanking the bridge on either side.

"Lovely," Jay said. Annaleise crossed her arms as she felt restless.

Carlos stared. It wasn't only Mal who could see her mother's hand in every stone around them. The carved creatures sneered in exactly the same way Maleficent did, their teeth pointed, their mouths cruel.

Mal looked at them, frozen.

Then Carlos realized it was because she was paralyzed by fear. "Mal?"

She didn't answer.

She can't do this alone, Carlos thought. None of us can.

It's no different from pulling each other through the mud. It's just physics, if you think about it. It's science.

But then Carlos tried not to think about it, because his heart was pounding so loudly, he thought the others would hear it. He began to recite the periodic table of the elements in his head to calm himself down. Atomic numbers and electrons were always somewhat comforting in times of stress, he'd found.

And the more numbers he recited, the easier it was to put one foot in front of the other.

Which is exactly what he did.

Carlos stepped up on to the first stone paver that led to the sloping bridge. Just as he did, the stone gargoyles began to flap their wings in front of them.

"Holy shizles on a stick." Annaleise said, staring at the stone decorations.

"I second that." Jay said.

"How is this possible?" Evie asked. "There's no magic here!"

"The hole in the dome," said Carlos. "It must have sparked the castle to life or something, like a chemical reaction." It made sense—not only had Diablo been unfrozen, but the whole fortress as well.

Carlos moved his way up the next step, and then the next, until he was standing level with the main ramp of the bridge itself. Mal, Jay, Evie and Annaleise right behind him.

The creatures growled as they came to life around them, the bridge rumbling beneath their feet. The gryphons' horrible eyes glowed green, illuminating the fog around them, until they were practically shining a spotlight on the five intruders. The gargoyles uncurled their hunched backs, now almost doubling themselves in height.

Evie was right, Carlos thought. They were really ugly things, with snaggly teeth and forked tongues. He couldn't look away from the hideous faces hovering over him. "This must be residue, left over from the magical years," he said. "Whatever did this was probably part of the same power that sparked Diablo to life."

"The same power?" Mal looked spellbound. "You mean, my mother's?"

"Or the same electromagnetic wave." Carlos thought about his last Weird Science class. "I'm not sure how to tell the difference anymore."

Jay swallowed as a gargoyle leaned down, looking as if it could spring at Carlos at any moment. "Right now, I'm pretty sure the difference doesn't matter."

"Who goes there?" boomed the gargoyle to the right of Carlos.

"You cannot pass," said the one on his left.

"Yeah? Says who?" Carlos took a step back, as did the rest of the group following behind him. They looked at each other nervously, unsure of what to do next. They hadn't known about the gargoyles, hadn't expected a fight. This was going to be more difficult than they expected, maybe even impossible.

But it didn't matter. Even Carlos knew there was no turning back now.

"You ugly things need to move!" said Mal, shouting from behind him. She glared at the gryphons. "Or I'm going to make you!"

The gargoyles growled and grimaced, flapping their stone wings as a threat.

"Any ideas?" Carlos looked over his shoulder nervously. "We don't have weapons or magic. What would we fight with? Besides, how do we fight something made of stone?"

"There has to be a way," Mal said. "We have to pass!" she shouted again. "Let us through!"

"Mal, yelling at them to let us pass is like telling Jay to stop stealing for a living. They're not going to." Annaleise said. Mal glared at her before turning back to the gargoyles.

The gargoyles glared at the children with glowing eyes, their fangs bared, their stony wings beating the wind. "You cannot pass," they said again in unison—and just as the creatures spoke, the thick gray clouds surrounding the long stone ramp dissipated, revealing a gap in the bridge, a forty-foot gulf with nothing below but air.

The bridge was broken, virtually impassable.

"Great," Jay said. "So it's over. Fine. Whatever. Can we go now?"

The others just stared.

Carlos had to admit Jay was probably right.

There was no apparent way to reach the castle. They had come all this way only to fail. Even if they could pass the gargoyles, there was no way to cross the bridge since there was no bridge. It was hopeless. Their journey was ended before it had truly begun.

Annaleise stepped back and noticed something carved in the stones at the foot of the bridge. She knelt down to read it. She brushed away the dirt and moss to reveal a sentence carved in the stones: 'Ye who trespass the bridge must earn the right of way.'

"Right of way? Are those directions?" Annaleise asked.

"What does that mean? How do we earn the right of way?" Mal asked the gargoyles but they didn't say anything.

Evie shook her head as she glanced back up at the gargoyles and the broken bridge. "I don't know, Mal. We don't seem to have earned anything."

"And technically, we are trespassers," Jay said.

Evie frowned. "I think we should go. Maybe the bridge was destroyed—maybe it's been like this for years. Maybe no one gets in and out now."

"No. Those words have to mean something. But is it a riddle, or a warning?" Mal asked. She looked at the gap in the bridge and pushed her way past the others, toward the edge. She was determined to figure it out.

"What are you doing?" Carlos yelled. "Mal, wait! You're not thinking straight."

Carlos took a step back, Jay and Evie flanking him. "Go after her," Carlos said. "Pull her from the break in the stone before she falls. This is crazy."

Annaleise nodded and followed after Mal.

"It's so sad," Evie said. "To have come this far."

"I know. But half a bridge might as well be no bridge at all," Carlos muttered. He put down his machine and turned it off so that he wouldn't have to listen to its beeping. The noise of the sensor—more proof of how close they'd come to finding the source of the power—only made things that much worse.

The moment Carlos killed the machine, the light in the gargoyles' eyes faded. The eerie green glow receded back into their black stone sockets.

"Wait—did you just—"

Carlos looked incredulous. "Turn off the monsters? I think so." He called out to Mal, who was now standing with Annaleise, just a few feet from the break in the stone ramp. "They're like big doorbells, Mal. When we try to cross, they turn on. When we go to leave, they turn off."

"So they're another defense mechanism?" Evie looked unconvinced.

"Maybe." Carlos studied the bridge. "Anything's possible. At least, that's what I'm starting to think."

Mal came running back. "So maybe it's just a test. Look," she said, approaching the gargoyles, their eyes once more glowing.

"Ask me your questions!" she called up to the guardians of the bridge. "Let us earn the right of way."

But the gargoyles didn't answer her.

"Maybe you're not turning it on right," Evie said.

"Maybe this is just a waste of time." Jay sighed.

"No, it's not," Mal said, giving them a beseeching look. "This is my mother's castle. We've found it, and there has to be a way in. Look at the inscription on the stone—it has to be some kind of test."

Jay spoke up. "Carlos said they're like a doorbell. But what if they're not? What if they're like the alarm system in a house? All we would have to know to disable them is the code." He shrugged. "I mean, that's what I would do, if I was trying to break in."

Of any of us, he would know, Carlos thought.

"So what's the code?" Mal turned back to the gargoyles, her eyes blazing. "Tell me, you idiots!"

She drew herself up to her full height and spoke in a voice that Carlos knew well. It was how Cruella spoke to him, and how Maleficent spoke to her minions from the balcony. He was impressed. He'd never seen Mal so like her mother as now.

Mal did not ask the gargoyles, she commanded them.

"This is my mother's castle, and you are her servants. You will do as I bid. **ASK YOUR RIDDLE AND LET US PASS!** " she ordered, looking as if she were home—truly home—for the first time.

Because, as they could all now see, she was.

A moment went by.

The mists swirled, in the background, ravens cawed, and green light pulsed in the distant windows of the castle.

"Carlosssssssss," hissed the gargoyles, in disturbingly creepy unison. "Approaaaach ussssssss."

Hearing his name, Carlos took a step forward with an awestruck look on his face. "Why me?"

"Maybe because you touched the step first? So the alarm is set on Carlos mode?" Jay scratched his head. "Better you than me, man."

"Time for the pass code." Mal nodded. "You got this, Carlos."

Annaleise squeezed his shoulder in reassurance she knows he needs.

The gargoyles began to hiss again. "Carlosssssss. First quesssssstion…"

Carlos took a breath. It was just like school, he thought. He liked school. He liked answering questions that had answers, right? So wasn't this just another question? That needed just another answer?

 ** _"Ink spot in the snow_**

 ** _Or red, rough, and soft_**

 ** _Black and wet, warm and fast_**

 ** _Loved and lost—What am I?"_**

No sooner had the gargoyles stopped speaking than rumbling began beneath their feet.

"Carlos!" Evie cried, stumbling as she tried to stand in place while Annaleise bumped into Jay and they both fell, Annaleise on top of him.

"What?" Carlos ran his hand through his hair anxiously. His mind was reeling.

Ink is black. Snow is white. What's red and rough? A steak? Who loves a steak? We haven't had those in a while, anyway. And what does any of this have to do with me?

"Answer the question!" Mal said. The light was once more fading from the gargoyles' eyes.

"It's—" said Carlos, stalling. He was stuck.

Black. White. Spots. Red. Loved. Lost.

"The puppies. My mother's puppies, the Dalmatians. All one hundred and one of them. All loved and all lost, by her." He looked up at the stone faces. "Though I think the love part is debatable."

Silence.

"Do I need to say the names? Because I swear I can tell them to you, every last one of them." He took a breath. "Pongo. Perdita. Patch. Lucky. Roly Poly. Freckles. Pepper…"

When he had finished speaking, the mist once more congealed around the bridge. Carlos let out a sigh.

It hadn't worked.

"Wait!" Mal said, pointing to the spot where the mists had congealed.

"It's doing something." The gray mist parted, revealing a new section of the bridge, a piece that had not existed a moment ago.

The gargoyles cleared a path, and the five of them ran out onto it, hurrying to the newly formed edge, waiting for the next question.

"NEXT RIDDLE!" Mal demanded, just as a ferocious wind blew at them. Carlos was beginning to get the feeling the bridge had more than a few ways of getting rid of unwanted visitors. He swallowed.

They needed to hurry.

Or rather, he did.

"Carlossssssss. Next quessssssstion."

He nodded.

 _ **"Like a rose in a blizzard**_

 _ **It blooms like a cut**_

 _ **A red smear**_

 _ **Her kiss is death."**_

The gargoyles hissed in their eerie unison, turning to face them, claws raised. Their muscles flexed and their tails whipped, their forked tongues raking their fangs. It looked as if they might pounce at any moment.

Once again, the bridge began to shift beneath their feet.

"'Her kiss is death,'" echoed Carlos. "It has to be about my mother. Is that the answer? Cruella De Vil?"

The bridge began to shake even harder.

Wrong answer.

"But it is about your mother!" said Evie, suddenly. "A rose in a blizzard, it blooms like a cut…her kiss…it's about what color lipstick she wears! Cruella's signature red!"

Carlos was dumbfounded. "It is?"

"A red smear—see? It means it's something she puts on. Oh, I know what it is!" Evie said. "The answer is Cherries in the Snow! That has to be it; it's been everywhere this season. I mean—judging from what's been thrown away on the Dumpster barges."

Mal rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you know that."

The wind whipped up again, and the five of them locked hands, holding on to one another for support. They pressed their shoulders together, bracing themselves against the gale.

"It's not Cherries in the Snow! What else is there, Evie?" Annaleise asked, one eye closed.

"I could swear that was it. Red with a pinkish undertone. No, wait—wait—it didn't have a pink undertone, it was darker. Redder. A 'true red'—what did the magazines call it? Frost and Flame? No—Fire and Ice! That's it! Cruella's pout is made of Fire and Ice!" Evie exclaimed.

The gargoyles paused, their eyes glowing. They stood in place as the mist once more congealed around the bridge, then thinned to reveal another new section.

Carlos relaxed. Jay whooped, Annaleise pumped her fist into the air and even Mal clapped Evie on the back as they advanced across the bridge.

One more answered question, and the way would be clear.

"Ask your last riddle!" Mal charged them.

The gargoyles looked crafty.

"Carlosssssss. Last quesssssstion."

He nodded.

Mal looked at him encouragingly.

Here it goes, one last time.

 _ **"Dark is her heart**_

 _ **Black like the sky above**_

 _ **Tell us, young travelers—**_

 _ **What is her one true love?"**_

The creatures hissed in unison, and as soon as they finished speaking, they walked toward the five teens, teeth shining, claws raised, wings flapping. The gargoyles would tear them to shreds if Carlos answered incorrectly—the five of them saw that now.

Carlos had to get it right, not just to cross the bridge but to keep them all alive. "'Dark is her heart'—they must mean Maleficent, right?" He turned to Mal. "But it could mean any of our mothers."

"My mother has no true love. My mother loves nothing and nobody! Not even me!" said Mal, with a slight pang that Carlos knew all too well.

"Don't look at me. I don't even have a mother," Jay said.

"Me either!" Annaleise said.

"Beauty!" Evie called out. "That's mine. I know…it's a little cliché."

But the gargoyles were not interested in anything anyone had to say. Coming closer, parting the mists, their tails swishing: "WHAT IS HER ONE TRUE LOVE?" they demanded, looking from Evie to Carlos to Mal to Jay to Annaleise.

"My father?" Mal ventured.

Carlos shook his head. If Maleficent was anything like Cruella, she hated Mal's father with a vengeance. Cruella had forbidden any questions about his own, no matter how curious Carlos was, how much he wanted to know. As far as Cruella was concerned, Carlos was hers alone. Maleficent had to be the same.

The gargoyles were nearly upon them. They were taller than Carlos had realized, maybe eight or nine feet. They were enormous, and their weight made the bridge groan beneath their every step.

Carlos didn't think even the periodic tables could help him now.

"WHAT IS HER ONE TRUE LOVE?" the gargoyles asked again, extending their massive wings. When they flapped, the mists swirled about them.

"The Dragon's Eye?" Mal guessed. "That's all my mom cares about."

"Being the Fairest One of All!" Evie shouted. "Her, or me. In that order!"

Jay just shrugged. "Annaleise and I can't help. I'm pretty sure the answer isn't Jafar, Prince of Pajamas."

At first it looked as if the gargoyles were shaking their heads, but Carlos realized it was because the bridge was rumbling so much. Everything was quaking, and the gargoyles were nearly upon them. His teeth began to clatter. Evie lost her balance and slipped, almost falling over the side, but Carlos caught her in time. Jay held on to a crumbling post and held out his hand so that Carlos could hold on to him, forming a link to Evie. Annaleise wound her arms around Jay's chest tightly, her chin on her shoulder.

"Hurry! Somebody'd better come up with something," Jay grunted.

"I can't hold on much longer."

Evie screamed as she dangled off the bridge, Carlos clinging to one of her blue gloves, which she was slipping out of, one finger at a time.

"THINK, MAL! What does Maleficent love?" Carlos yelled. "She has to love SOMETHING!"

"WHAT IS HER ONE TRUE LOVE? ANSWER THE RIDDLE OR FALL INTO DARKNESS," the gargoyles intoned.

"Diablo?" Mal screamed. "Is it Diablo?"

In answer, the bridge buckled under her feet, and Mal slid down, only by luck managing to hold on to Jay's and Carlos' linked hands, who was anchoring everyone. The entire castle was shaking. Stones flew down from its ramparts, and the towers threatened to crumble on top of them.

The bridge began to sway dangerously.

"Wait!" screamed Annaleise, after staring at the gargoyles, analyzing them. "You guys! They're not talking about Maleficent! They're still talking about Cruella! Quick, Carlos, what is her one true love?"

He had to say it.

He'd almost always known.

Sometimes, he would think she meant him, but he really knew better.

Because she never meant him.

Not once. Not ever.

Carlos opened his eyes. He had to say it, and he had to say it now.

"HER FURS! FUR IS HER ONE TRUE LOVE!" he yelled. She said it all the time. "All my mother cares about is her stupid fur coat closet and everything in it."

It was the truth, and like any truth, it was powerful.

In the blink of an eye, the five of them were standing on the other side of the gargoyle bridge, and everything was set to rights once more. There was no more swaying or rumbling, no one was falling over the side, and the gargoyles had all turned back to stone.

Although Carlos would swear that one of the stone gargoyles had winked at him.

They were safe, for now.

"Nice work," said Mal, breathing heavily. "Okay, now—where to?"

Carlos shakily looked at the beeping box in his hands. "This way."

The Forbidden Fortress lived up to its name. Once the five adventurers had found their way in through its massive oaken doors, it was almost impossible to tell the darkness of the shadow world outside the castle from the shadow world within.

Either way, it was intimidatingly dark, and the farther Jay and Carlos and Evie and Annaleise and Mal crept inside, the more their nervous whispers echoed through the ghostly, abandoned chambers.

Jay wished he'd worn something warmer than his leather vest. Mal's lips were turning blue, Carlos's breath appeared in white clouds as he spoke, Annaleise's knees were shaking with each step and Evie's fingers felt like icicles when Jay grabbed them. (Once. Or twice. And strictly for warmth.) It was colder than Dragon Hall inside, and there was no chance of anything getting any warmer; there were no logs on the fireplace grates, no thermostats to switch on.

"That's modern castle living." Evie sighed.

"Trade in one big, cold prison for another." Mal nodded in agreement. Privately, Jay thought that Jafar's junk shop seemed downright cozy in comparison, but he kept that to himself.

Inside every corridor, a dense fog floated just above the black marble floor. "That has to be magic. The fog doesn't just do that," Mal said.

Carlos nodded. "The refracted energy seems stronger here. I think we're closer to the source than we've ever been."

As he spoke, an icy wind blew past them, whistling in through the shattered stained-glass windows high above them. Each step they took reverberated against the walls.

Even Jay the master thief was too intimidated to try and take anything, and kept his hands to himself for once.

Of course once they did find the scepter, he'd have to man up. Jay knew that, and he'd made his peace with it—no matter how well they'd all gotten along on the way there.

Villains don't have friends, and neither do their children. Not when you get right down to it.

None of them had come there out of loyalty to Mal, or friendship. Except for Carlos and Annaleise but he didn't know the extent of their relationship. Jay knew what he had to do, and he'd do it.

Until then, his hands stayed in his pockets. If this haunted place was selling it, he didn't want it.

"What's that?" Jay asked, pointing. Green lights flashed through half-shattered panes of glass, but he couldn't figure out the source.

"It's what we've been tracking all along," Carlos answered. "That same electromagnetic energy: it's going crazy." He shook his head at the flashing lights on his box. "This fortress was definitely exposed to something that's left a kind of residue charge—"

"You mean, an enchantment?" Annaleise interrupted, rubbing her hands together to get more warmth.

He shrugged. "That, too."

"And so, even after all these years, this place is somehow still glowing with its own light?" Evie looked amazed.

"Cool," Jay said.

Mal shrugged it off. "In other words, we're getting closer to the Dragon's Eye."

"Yep," said Jay. Like the rest of the group, he knew what everyone else in the Isle and the kingdom knew—that the evil green light meant only one terrifying person.

Even if it probably reminded Mal of home.

Corridors led to more corridors, until they passed through dark hallways full of framed paintings shrouded in cobwebs and dust.

"It's a portrait gallery," Evie said, straining to see the walls through the shadows. "Every castle has one."

"Mal, stop it—" Jay shouted, looking behind him and jumping away.

Mal reached out and tapped his shoulder. She was standing right in front of him. "Hello? I'm not back there. I'm over here."

"Crap. I thought that picture was you." He pointed.

"That's not me. That's my mother," Mal said with a sigh.

"Whoa, you really do look like her, you know," Jay said.

"You two could be twins," Evie agreed.

"That, my friends, is called genetics," Carlos said with a smile.

"Gee, thanks—I look like my mother? Just what every girl wants to hear," Mal replied.

Still, Jay knew different. What Mal wanted, more than anything, was to be just like her mother.

Exactly like her.

Every bit as bad, and every bit as powerful.

That was what it would take for someone like Maleficent to even notice her and Jay could tell that this portrait gallery was only making Mal want it that much more desperately.

"Now, what?" Mal asked, as if she were trying to change the subject.

Jay looked around. Before them were four corridors leading to four different parts of the fortress.

A foul draft issued from each of the paths, and Jay could have sworn he heard a distant moan; but he knew it was only the wind, winding its way through the curving passages. He yanked a matchbook from his pocket and lit a match, muttering a quick "eenie-meanie-miney-mo."

"How scientific," Carlos said, rolling his eyes.

"You got your way, I got mine. That one," Jay said, pointing to the corridor directly in front of them. Just as he did, the wind blew out from that same passage, and the foul stench of something rotted or dead came along with it.

The wind snuffed the burning match out.

Evie held her nose, and Mal did the same.

"Are you sure about this?" Mal asked.

"One hundred percent I am not." Jay said. But then, something pulled them down the second to last corridor and they were falling into darkness.

* * *

Annaleise opened her eyes blearily. She rolled over onto her back and looked at the ceiling. But all she saw was darkness. She looked to the side and she realized that she was on a large ship.

Annaleise sat up as her memories kicked in. She looked around and saw the other four travelers, unconscious a few feet away from her. She crawled over to Carlos and Evie and shook Carlos.

"Carlos, wake up." Annaleise whisper-shouted before doing the same to Evie. They both didn't wake up. She crawled over to Jay and Mal and repeated what she did to Carlos and Evie.

Nothing.

"You want to help them?" A voice whispered from behind her. She slowly turned around to see a male teen. He has light brown hair, dark brown eyes, and angular features. He was taller than her by eight inches, and he was muscular. He was wearing a red muscle tank top, black basketball shorts and white sneakers with no laces.

"Who are you?" Annaleise asked, eyeing the stranger warily.

"Name's Androseiev. But call me, Anderson to make it easier for you." He introduced. "Now, I'm going to ask again. Do you want to help them?"

Annaleise glanced at them and nodded. Anderson stood up and held out his hand. "Then come with me. It's time for your test."

Annaleise took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. As they started walking towards the edge, she asked, "What test?"

"This." Anderson said and he pushed her over the side of the ship, sending her to the dark water down below. She fell in and immediately started trying to swim back up to the surface.

Annaleise heaved in a huge breath as she tried to stay afloat. That was when she heard it.

 **Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.**

It couldn't be. It _can't_ be.

Annaleise turned around to a certain crocodile slowly swimming towards her, ready to eat her.

Annaleise tried frantically to swim away but she doesn't know how to swim. No one taught her how to.

She turned to the ship and looked up at Anderson.

"Anderson! Help me!" Annaleise screamed, still trying to swim.

Anderson shook his head from where he was standing, observing her. "I can't. You have to pass this test by yourself."

"But I..." 'I don't know how.' She wanted to say but didn't admit it.

"You've become dependent on others when you should be able to fend for yourself. Use what you know." Anderson said.

Annaleise turned to the crocodile that tick-tocked when he moved and had wanted to eat her dad back when they were in Neverland.

Annaleise felt fear overcome her and she became still.

Annaleise realized something as it came closer. Tick-Tock wasn't here. He was back at the island with the other rogue crocodiles. This was just some kind of illusion.

"I am not afraid of you! You're just an illusion! You're not the real Tick-Tock!" Annaleise shrieked, just as the water started pulling her under. She tried to swim back up but all she could see was stars in her limited vision.

Something grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the surface. Once she was out of the water, she felt herself be dropped onto the floor of the ship.

Annaleise breathed heavily and she looked up to see Anderson sitting beside her, dripping wet.

Anderson smirked at her. "Not bad. It was about time you started thinking. You passed your test."

Annaleise heard four gasps and the other four teens sat up quickly.

"What the hell happened?" Mal asked, eyes searching around. "Where are we?"

"Annaleise! Are you okay?" Carlos asked as he crawled over to her, Evie following behind him. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position, her breathing labored.

Jay noticed Anderson. "Who's this guy? Where did he come from?"

"I'm Androseiev. But call me Anderson." He said, an analyzing glint in his eyes. "Who are you guys?"

"Nuh-uh. We outnumber you five to one. We ask the questions." Mal said. Anderson scowled at her but didn't argue.

Carlos tuned them out and focused on Annaleise. "You okay?"

Annaleise nodded and she stood up, Carlos and Evie did the same. "Yeah, I'm good. You passed your test and I just passed mine. I'll tell you all about it later but we got to keep moving."

"Yeah, I agree." Evie said before turning to the other three. "Guys, we got to get going."

"Not until we ask him some questions." Mal said, not taking her eyes off the new boy. Anderson stared back, not afraid. "Where did you come from?"

"I didn't come from anywhere. I lived here my whole life." Anderson said.

Mal, Jay, Evie, Carlos and Annaleise became surprised and shocked at what he just said. How could he have lived here his whole life when this castle wasn't alive?

"You know, I may not seem like it but I am a good guy. I could help you get to the Dragon's Eye. I know where it is but you three have to pass your tests." Anderson pointed at Mal, Jay and Evie. He started walking to the wheel that steers the ship and said, "Позвольте этому судну повышаться к вершине."

The ship started rumbling and it started to rise. The five teens struggled to stay balanced but that was a losing battle. Annaleise grabbed to one of the mast poles, with the others following her lead.

A moment later, it stopped. Annaleise looked around to see they were in the corridor before they fell onto the ship.

Anderson stepped away from the wheel and walked to the middle passageway. He turned his head towards them. "You coming?"

Carlos looked at Annaleise, nervous but he saw a steely resolve in her eyes. She nodded and she walked past him into the dark hallway.

"You better not have lied about knowing where the Dragon's Eye is because if you do, you're dead." Mal threatened him before stepping past him.

Jay started to follow her but before he does, he says to Anderson, "I don't trust you. I would watch my back if I were you."

Evie just walked past him without looking at him. Carlos scurried after her, not wanting to be alone with Anderson.

Anderson stifled a chuckle at their antics before following them.

* * *

Anderson led the way down the staircase, Annaleise behind him, Carlos basically shadowing her, Evie following with Jay and Mal close behind. There was no rail, and the treads were coated in a black moss. Every step squished in the darkness, and it felt as if they were stepping on something living and wet.

There were layer upon layer of gauzy cobwebs, a spider's tapestry woven long ago and forgotten. Every step they took pulled apart the threads, clearing a way forward. All of them were quiet, hushed by the lingering menace in the air as their footsteps squished in the gloom.

"Alright, this is one of the shortcuts." Anderson said, stopping in front of a rotten wooden door hanging partly off its hinges. When he touched it, the frame collapsed, sending the wood clattering against the floor. Even the heavy iron straps that had once bound the door fell against the stones and the wood, making an awful racket.

The six of them walked inside. The room was impossibly dark. There was not even a hint of light, not a glow from a distant window or a torch. Jay reached out, looking for a wall, something to touch.

"Are you sure this is a shortcut?" Carlos asked, trying to navigate through the darkness.

Jay struck something with his hand, and the room was suddenly filled with the deafening sounds of metal and stone colliding and grinding and tinkling all around them.

And just as suddenly, they were bathed in the brightest light, a glow that burst from every corner of the room. The golden brilliance filled their eyes—and before they knew what was happening, the room was suddenly filling with sand.

Sand, sand everywhere…and they were falling into it, covered in it.

Evie screamed. Mal started to thrash. Carlos fell down. Annaleise covered her face. Only Anderson and Jay stood still, not affected by it.

It was a cave.

A cave filled with sand…and, from what Jay could barely make out amid the massive dunes now surrounding him…treasure.

He looked around at the king's ransom of jewels that glittered in between the dunes. Mound upon mound of gold coins shimmered in the distance, while hills of gold coins stretched as far as the eye could see. There were crowns and coronets, jeweled scepters and goblets, emeralds the size of his fist, diamonds as brilliant as the stars, thousands of gold doubloons and silver coins. There were larger things too: great obelisks, and coffins, lamps and urns, a pharaoh's head, a winged staff, a chalice, and a sphinx made of gold.

A king's ransom, he thought. That's what this is.

Evie pushed the sand away and sat up, wearing a new crown on her head, quite by accident. "What is this? Where are we?"

"It's Jay's test." Anderson simply said. Jay turned to him in disbelief.

" _My_ test?" Jay asked, not believing it before it dawned on him. "The Cave of Wonders!"

"Come again?" asked Mal.

"This is the place—where my father found the lamp."

"I thought Aladdin found the lamp," said Carlos.

"Yes, but who sent him there?" asked Jay with a superior smile. "If it wasn't for Jafar, Aladdin would have never found it. Hence it was my father's lamp all along." He looked annoyed. "But nobody ever mentions that part, do they? And my dad said he thought there might be other things hidden in the mist—he must have suspected this might be here too."

"Fine. Cave of Wonders. More like Basement of Sand," said Mal. "More important, how do we get out of here?"

"You don't," said a deep voice.

"Excuse me?" said Mal, turning to Anderson who was just observing them with that analyzing look on his face.

"I didn't say anything." Anderson said.

"Who was that?" asked Evie nervously.

The five teens looked around. Nobody else seemed to be there.

"Fine. It's nothing. Now, let's find that door," said Mal.

"You won't," said the booming voice again. "And you will be trapped here forever if you don't answer me correctly!"

"Great," Jay groaned.

"Is this another riddle? This whole fortress is, like, booby-trapped or something," Evie grumbled.

Anderson huffed. "Gee, nothing gets by you, Princess."

Evie sent him a glare and he gave one back.

"Cave? Should I call you Cave?" asked Mal.

"Mouth of Wonders will do," said the voice.

"That's a terrible name." Evie made a face and Annaleise nodded in agreement.

Mal nodded. "Okay, Mouth, what's the question?"

"It is but a simple one."

"Hit us," Mal said.

The booming voice chuckled.

Then it asked in somber tones, "What is the golden rule?"

"The golden rule?" Mal asked, scratching her head. She looked at her team. "Is that some kind of jewelry thing? Jay?"

Jay looked as confused as she was.

Carlos began frantically reciting every mathematical rule he could thing of. "Rules of logarithms? Rule of three? Rules expressed in symbols? Order of operations?"

"Is it maybe something about being nice to each other?" asked Evie tentatively. "Do unto others what you want done unto yourself? Some kind of Auradon greeting-card nonsense?"

In answer, the cave began to fill with sand again. The Mouth of Wonders was not happy, that much was clear. Sand appeared from everywhere, filling the room, filling the spaces between the stacks of gold coins, rising like water filling a sinking ship. They would soon suffocate if they did not give the Mouth the correct answer.

"It's the Cave of Wonders, not the Fairy Godmother!" Annaleise shrieked. "The Cave doesn't care about being kind! That's not the golden rule!"

The cave continued to fill with sand.

"Come on, this way!" Mal tried to climb the stacks of gold coins, thinking she could avoid the sand by getting closer to the ceiling, but they collapsed beneath her each time she attempted to scale them, and she only ended up buried in more treasure. She tried again, and this time Evie gave her a push from behind, so that she was able to grab on to the tall statue of a sphinx.

She mounted the creature's back and reached to pull Evie up beside her, but the sand was still rising, already engulfing her leg, threating to keep her down.

"I can't make it!" Evie shouted.

"You have to!" Mal yelled back.

But Evie had disappeared under the flood of sand.

Jay couldn't believe it when he watched her go under. "Evie—"

"Come on—" Carlos said, feeling beneath the sand for her. "She has to be down here. Help me find her." Annaleise began to dig, too. Annaleise looked up to Anderson but he was gone.

"I can't find her," Jay shouted.

Evie popped back up, spluttering, spitting coins out of her mouth. Mal, Carlos and Jay looked relieved.

"Here—" Now Mal offered Carlos a hand to pull him up, but the sand was already at his chest. The sand was already up to Annaleise's neck and Carlos wrapped an arm around her waist, trying to keep her from going under.

"C'mon," she cried, "climb the sphinx!"

"I can't," he said, still holding onto Annaleise.

"What?"

"My leg is caught."

Evie climbed up on the sphinx and tugged at his arm on one side with Annaleise doing the same, and Mal from the other, but no matter what they did, Carlos didn't budge an inch. He was stuck, and the sand was still rising around him. It came from the walls and from the floor, and now Evie noticed that it was coming from the ceiling too.

Mal tugged again at Carlos's arm, but instead of pulling him from the sand, she pulled him out of Evie's grasp. Evie tumbled into the ever-growing mounds of sand, crashing against chalices and crowns.

The sand covered her: first up to her knees, then her shoulders…

Annaleise reached for her, and they held hands as the sand kept rising.

"At least I have my heels on," Evie said, trying to sound brave. The sand was up to her neck, and Carlos could barely keep his chin above the surface now.

"JAY! WHERE'S JAY?" yelled Mal, looking around, coughing up sand as she frantically held Carlos by the arm.

"JAY!"

Jay was flailing in the sand; it was in his hair, in his eyes. He was also covered with gold doubloons. Gold. So much gold. He'd never seen so much gold in his life. He had all the gold in the world, it felt like.

He would die buried in gold.…

The golden rule…

What is the golden rule?

Why, he knew the answer to that.

Meanwhile, Carlos, Annaleise and Evie had disappeared beneath the sand again, and Mal herself was about to go under.

The sand was nearly at the ceiling. Soon there were would be nowhere to escape to; no way to avoid the sand, and no air in the chamber. They were running out of time and out of room.

But Jay knew the answer.

Jay knew he could save them.

"WHOEVER HAS THE MOST GOLD MAKES THE RULES! THAT'S THE GOLDEN RULE!" Jay cried triumphantly, raising a fist in the air.

There was a great booming chuckle, and the sand slowly started to melt into the drains. Soon Jay and Mal and Evie and Carlos and Annaleise were standing right back in the fortress, out of the dungeons altogether.

The Cave of Wonders had disappeared, but then so had all its treasure.

"Fool's gold," said Jay. "All of it."

Evie thought her heart would never stop pounding. She could still taste the sand from that cave. So this was what true evil was like—like sand in the mouth and gargoyles on attack. If this was what magic did, she was glad there was a dome.

Also, she had practically lost a heel back in there.

"Well, that was quite the trouble." Anderson said. At the sound of his voice, Annaleise whipped around to see that he doesn't have any evidence that he even was in sand.

"Where were you?" Annaleise asked. Anderson only shrugged.

"Around. But let's get out of here." He said before going to a door on the opposite side of the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. After all of this, you expect us to follow you? I thought you were taking us to the Dragon's Eye." Mal said, glaring at him.

"I am but you have to pass these tests to get there. The castle knows everything about you and it's using that information to its advantage. Princess' test is next." Anderson explained. "The Dragon's Eye is the last test. Which will be meant for you." He pointed at the purple-haired girl. "Now, let's get moving."

* * *

The six crept through the ruined castle. Bats screamed and fluttered over their heads, and the crumbling marble floor beneath them seemed to shift and slide in order to bear their weight.

Evie stumbled. "What is it with this place? Is there a fault line that runs under this island?"

"Well," Carlos began.

"Joke. That was a joke." Evie sighed.

There was nothing too funny about their current situation, however. It was a miracle that the surrounding ocean hadn't completely swallowed the castle and the entire mountain by now. Evie could hear the scampering of rats inside the walls, and chills ran up her spine.

Even the rats were looking for safer ground, she thought.

"This way," Anderson said, motioning to a narrow passage in front of him. They followed, trailing behind Anderson.

"Now this way," he said, rounding one turn, then another. Evie was right behind him as they followed, the passage growing narrower. "And now—"

"What's going on?" asked Evie, cutting him off. "Because I know my sizing, and I didn't just double in diameter in the last two and a half minutes."

Indeed, the passage had narrowed to nearly her shoulders' width. If it got any narrower, she would have to turn sideways. A lump formed in her throat, and her stomach began to roil—she felt as if this were no longer a corridor. It was crack, a fissure, and it felt like it might close on them at any moment.

Mal raised her voice. "Is it just my imagination, or are we wedged inside a mountain like—"

"A piece of string dangling down a pipe? Toothpaste squeezed inside a straw? A hangnail in this cuticle right here?" Jay said, holding out his hand. "Dang, this one really hurts."

"Are you describing the things you've stolen today? Because those are all terrible analogies," Evie said, looking at Jay. "And I'm saying that as someone who was castle-schooled by a woman who thinks the three R's are Rouging, Reddening, and Reapplying."

"I think I might be stuck." Carlos said.

Just then, the walls shook, the castle rattled, and a chip of stone fell to the floor. The shard was big enough to do damage, and it narrowly missed Evie's perfect nose when Annaleise pulled her to the wall.

She cried out. She wanted to retreat, but she couldn't, the corridor was too narrow.

"C'mon. There's another passage," Anderson said, wedging himself forward until he could pry first one hip and then the other out from the narrow corridor to a just-wider one.

As the five teens followed, Evie was so relieved that she didn't even remember to complain about her nose.

This new passage turned right, then left. The walls were farther apart here, but they were oddly sloped, some tilting inward, others outward. The effect was dizzying, as even the ceiling was sloped in spots, and the corridors kept branching, splitting into two or sometimes three directions.

And as always, the rumbling continued beneath them.

"Something doesn't like us," Jay said.

"We're not supposed to be in this place," echoed Evie.

"We need to hurry," Carlos said, trying to sound calm, though he had to be as scared as any of them.

Another stone broke free of the wall, shattering as it hit the floor, nearly crushing Evie's head. She jumped back this time, shuddering. "What is this place?"

"We're in some kind of maze," Mal said, thinking aloud. "That's why the corridors keep turning, why passages keep splitting off and narrowing. It's some kind of twisted maze, and we're lost in it."

"Mal, if this was a maze, it would be big enough for humans. But this isn't a maze. It's made for something small and compact. Now, what in the world would that something be?" Anderson riddled, glancing at Mal.

Carlos saw them before Mal could reply. "Everyone, look!" He was pointing to something in the dark distance. They followed the line of his gaze, seeing at first a pair of green glowing eyes, then another and another.

"Goblins," said Carlos. "This is where the goblins live." When he finished, the air filled with a terrible, raucous laughter, the sound of claws tapping and teeth grinding.

They had walked right in the goblins' den.

These goblins weren't the friendly, enterprising goblins of the wharf or the rude ones from the Slop Shop. These were horrible creatures that had lived in darkness without their mistress for twenty years. Hungry and horrible.

"What do we do?" Jay asked, cowering behind Carlos, who had flattened himself against the wall of the corridor, Annaleise holding his hand so tight, you could see her hand bones if you looked closely.

"We run," Evie and Mal cried, one after the other.

They ran toward the only open passageway, the goblin horde shrieking in the darkness, following behind them, their spears beating against the walls.

Jay shouted, "I guess they don't get a lot of visitors."

"Maybe they should stop eating their guests," Carlos said, nearly tripping over what he hoped was not a bone.

"That door!" Evie said, pointing to a heavy wooden door. "Everyone in!"

They hurried through the doorway, and Evie slammed the door after them, throwing the lock and sealing the goblins out.

"That was close," said Mal.

"Too close," Jay echoed. The goblins could still be heard on the far side of the door, cackling and tapping it with their spears. Annaleise had let go of Carlos' hand and was leaning with her back to the wall. Anderson was next to her, leaning on his right side, facing her.

"Maybe they just like to scare people?" Evie said. "I heard they were mostly harmless."

"Yeah, mostly," said Carlos, sucking his hand where a spear had almost hit it. "Let's not wait around to find out."

When it sounded as if the goblins had gone, Evie cracked open the door. She made sure they were alone before she nodded to Carlos. They continued down the narrow hallways finding nothing but empty chambers until she spied a light shining from a hidden hallway. "Over here!" she called.

She walked toward the light excitedly, thinking it might be the Dragon's Eye glinting in the dark.

And stopped short—because she was standing in front of a mirror.

A dark, stained, cracked mirror, but a mirror nonetheless.

Evie screamed.

"A monster!" she said.

"What is it?" Mal asked, following and looking over Evie's shoulder.

Then Mal screamed too.

Carlos, Annaleise and Jay bumped up next.

"A beast," Evie yelled. "A hideous beast!"

Evie was still screaming and pointing to her reflection. In the mirror, an old woman with a crooked nose and wearing a black cape pointed right back.

The hag was her.

"What's happened to me?" she asked, her voice, rough and quavery. Worse, when she looked down, she saw that her formerly smooth skin was saggy, wrinkly, and dotted with liver spots. She looked at her hair—white and scraggly. She was an old beggar woman, and not just in the mirror.

She wasn't the only one.

Mal was frowning at her reflection. She had a warty nose, and her head was mostly bald except for a few white strands. "Charming. It's got to be some kind of spell."

Jay shook his head. "But—once again, and let's say it all together now—there's no magic on the island."

"There was a moment—for a single second—when my machine burned a hole in the dome, and I think maybe that was what did it." Carlos said.

"Did what, exactly?" Evie asked, looking spooked.

"Brought Diablo back to life, sparked the Dragon's Eye and the gargoyles and the Cave of Wonders, and probably everything that used to be magical in this fortress," said Carlos. "I mean, maybe. Or not."

"I don't know, I don't think I look THAT bad," said Jay, who grinned at his reflection. He was chubby and pasty, bearded and gray, and looked exactly like his father. He too was wearing a black cloak. "I look like I got my hands on a whole lot of cake in my life, at least."

"Speak for yourself," said Carlos, who was frightened to see that in old age he resembled his mother, feature for feature: knotted neck, high cheekbones, bug-eyed glare. "I think I'd rather face the goblins than this."

"I'm with you." Annaleise said as she stared at herself in the mirror. Ear-length silver hair, worn-down eyes, slight wrinkly skin, and a bony body stared right back at her. She turned to their sixth member. "What about you, Ander..." Once again, he was gone. "Where the hell did he disappear to?"

Carlos shrugged, still staring at his reflection.

Evie began to panic; her throat was constricting. She couldn't look like this! She was beautiful! She was—

"Fairest," agreed the mirror.

"Not the voice!" Evie shouted, before she realized what, exactly, she had heard. Because this time, it wasn't her mother doing her Mirror Voice, as it so often was.

It was an actual Magic Mirror. On an actual wall.

They all turned to the mirror, whose human-esque features had appeared as a ghostly presence in the reflective glass.

The Magic Mirror said,

 _ **"Fairest you are, and fairest you will be again,**_

 _ **If you prove you are wise**_

 _ **and declare all the ingredients needed**_

 _ **for a peddler's disguise."**_

"It's a word problem!" said Carlos, gleefully. He loved word problems.

"No, it's not. It's a spell," Jay said, looking at him like he was crazy.

"I knew it!" said Mal.

"What's a peddler's disguise?" asked Jay.

"Obviously—it's this. It's what's happened to us," said Mal. "Evie, do you know what goes into making a peddler's disguise? It sounds like if we can name all the ingredients, we can reverse the spell."

"Not us," Carlos pointed out. "Evie. It says, you know, the Fairest." He looked at Mal, suddenly embarrassed. "Sorry, Mal."

"There's nothing fair about me now," Evie said. "But I have heard of the Peddler's Disguise, though." Her eyes were back on the glass, still riveted by her awful looks in the mirror.

"Of course you have. It's only your mother's most famous disguise! Remember when she fooled Snow White into taking the apple?" said Mal impatiently.

"Don't pressure me! You're making me panic. It's like, I used to know it, but now I can't think of anything except her." Evie pointed at her reflection. "I'm paralyzed."

"I don't know. I think it's kind of cool," Jay said. "You could steal a whole lot of stuff, looking like that."

Carlos nodded. "He does have a point. You might want to give the whole getup a test run."

Evie started to wail.

"Not helping," Annaleise scolded.

Evie wailed all the more loudly.

"Evie, come on. That's not you. You know that. Don't let my mother's evil fortress get under your skin," Mal said, sounding as passionate on the subject as Evie had ever heard her sound about anything at all.

"This is what my—I mean, Maleficent does. She finds your weaknesses and picks them off, one by one. You think it's an accident that we stumbled across this Magic Mirror, right when we happened to have the Fairest along for the ride?"

"You think it's on purpose?" Evie looked calmer, and even a little intrigued.

"I think it's a test, just like everything else in this place. Like Carlos and the gargoyles, or Jay and the Mouth."

"Okay," Evie said slowly, nodding at Mal. "You really think I can do it?"

"I know you can, you loser. I mean, Fairest loser." Mal grinned.

Evie grinned back.

Okay, maybe she could do this. "I have studied that spell a hundred times in my mother's grimoire."

"That's the spirit," Mal said, thumping her on the back.

"I can see the words of the spell as clearly as if it were before me now," Evie said a little more loudly, standing a little straighter.

"There you go. Of course you can. It's a classic."

"A classic," Evie said to herself. "That was what I called it. Remember?"

Could she?

Then she looked her old, ugly self right in the eye.

"'Mummy dust, to make me look old!'" she cried.

Suddenly, her wrinkles disappeared. Carlos whooped with joy, because his had vanished as well. And he'd hated seeing Cruella's frown lines on his face.

Evie smiled. "'To shroud my clothes, black of night!'"

In a flash, they were wearing their own clothes again.

"'To age my voice, an old hag's cackle!'" she said, and even as she said it, her real voice returned, young and melodic once again.

Jay laughed in delight, and it was no longer an old man's gruff chuckle.

"'To whiten my hair, a scream of fright!'" said Evie, watching as her hair went back to the dark, beautiful blue hue. Mal's thick purple locks returned, Annaleise's hair became dark brown again and the black seeped back into Carlos's white hair.

Evie was almost done now, and her voice gained confidence as she remembered the last words of the incantation. "'A blast of wind to fan my hate, a thunderbolt to mix it well, now reverse this magic spell!'"

All five of them cheered and yelled and jumped around like crazy idiots. Even Evie was grinning now.

She had never been so happy to see herself in the mirror, and now that she was herself again, she found that for once in her life, nobody even cared how she looked. Not even her.

It was like magic.

"Good job." They all jumped in surprise at the familiar voice behind them. Anderson stood there, clapping his hands slowly with a small smile on his face.

"Where did you go?" Carlos asked, heart thumping. Anderson chuckled. "What do you mean? I was here the whole time."

Annaleise was about to argue but Anderson already started walking. "Let's go. Dragon's Eye is our last stop."

The five teens exchanged glances before following him.

* * *

As she trudged behind the others, Mal thought about what she'd said to Evie—how everything at the Forbidden Fortress had been a test.

Carlos had faced the gargoyles, Jay, the Cave of Wonders and Evie had endured the Magic Mirror. Mal doesn't know what Annaleise faced.

Was danger—in the form of a challenge all her own—waiting for her, just behind the next castle door?

Or would it be even more like her mother to ignore her altogether? To leave her alone, and think she wasn't worthy of any kind of test at all?

Mal couldn't shake the feeling that something or someone was watching her; she'd felt it since she left home that morning, and the presence was even stronger in the fortress. But every time she looked over her shoulder there was nothing. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Past the mirrored hallway, Mal and the others walked through a corridor hung with purple and gold pennants and great tapestries, depicting all the surrounding kingdoms. It was hard to tell one from the next, though, mostly because the dust was so thick. As they walked, they even made tracks across the dusty stones, as if they were instead trudging through hallways of snow.

But on they went.

The corridors bent and twisted, the floor sometimes seeming uneven, the walls angling one way or the other, making them all feel as if they were in a dream or a fun-house or someplace that didn't really exist.

A fairy tale come to life.

A castle—only, the way castles looked in nightmares.

Every wall and every stone was rendered in shades of gray and black, a faint green glow sometimes seeping through a wedge here and there.

Mother's home, Mal thought every time she noticed the green light.

The total effect was excruciating for all six of them, even for Mal.

Or, especially for Mal.

The cracked stained glass windows were the only other source of color. The old glass was mostly broken, and sections of the windows lay entirely in ruins, their shards dashed across the floor. Mal and the others had to step carefully to avoid slipping on one of pieces. The long, window-lined corridor gave way to an even taller and wider corridor, and before long, Mal knew they were approaching some place of significance, a great chamber, perhaps even the heart of the castle itself.

Mal walked toward her fate, as Evie had said. Her destiny, if that's what it was.

Mal could feel it, the now familiar pull toward something unknown, something that perhaps belonged only to her.

It was there in front of her, buzzing and vibrating, just as it had been since the first moment she'd stepped inside the Thorn Forest. It pulled at her, beckoned her, even taunted her.

Come, it said.

Hurry.

This way.

Was it her really destiny calling to her, after all?

Or was it just another failure waiting for her in the throne room? More confirmation that she would never be her mother's daughter, no matter how hard she tried?

Anderson stopped at a pair of doors twice the height of a grown man.

"This is it. It's here."

Mal took a breath. She felt a chill up her spine, and goose bumps all over her arm. "This was Maleficent's throne room. I'm sure of it now. I can feel it." She looked up at them. "Does that sound crazy?"

They shook their heads, no.

She pushed open the doors, taking it all in.

The darkness and the power. The shadow and the light. Ceilings as high as the sky, and as black as smoke. Windows spanning whole walls, through which Maleficent could manipulate an entire world.

"Oh," said Evie involuntarily.

Carlos looked like he wanted to bolt, but he didn't.

Jay's eyes flickered across the room as if he were casing the joint.

Annaleise just breathed in and out.

Anderson stood with no emotion shown on his face.

But Mal felt like she was all alone with the ghosts.

One ghost, in particular.

This was where her mother used to rage and command, where she had shot out of the ceiling as a green ball of fire to curse an entire kingdom. This was her seat of Darkness.

They pushed farther inside, Mal at the front. Carlos, Annaleise, Jay and Evie fell like a phalanx of soldiers behind her, almost in formation. Anderson was following at a slower pace.

The black stones beneath their feet were shiny and slick, and the entire room was haunted by an aura of deep malevolence. Mal could feel it; they all could.

This had been a sad, angry, and unhappy home. Even now, the pain of that time burned its way through Mal, deep into her bones.

She shivered.

There was an empty place in the middle of the room where her mother's throne used to be. It had sat upon a great dais, flanked by two curving sets of stairs. The room was round and ringed with columns.

A great arc cradled the place where the throne had once sat, guarding an empty spot. The tattered remains of purple tapestries moldered on the walls.

"There's nothing left," Mal said, kneeling on the one dark spot that no longer held a throne. "It's all gone."

"You all right?" asked Jay, who was nervously blowing on his hands to warm them.

Mal nodded. "It's…" she faltered, unable to find the words to describe what she was feeling. She had listened to all her mother's stories, but she didn't think they were real.

Not until now.

"Yeah," he said. "I know." He shrugged, and she realized he'd probably felt the same way when they were in the Cave of Wonders. Mal knew Jafar and Iago talked about it all the time, but it was hard to imagine, hard to picture a world beyond what they knew of the Isle.

It had been, anyway.

Now everything was different.

Jay sighed. "It's all real, isn't it?"

"I guess so," Mal nodded. "Every last page of every last story."

"So, where is the scepter?" Carlos asked, looking around the cold stone room.

"It has to be here somewhere," said Evie, turning to look behind her.

"Maybe we should split up," Jay said, a glint in his eye.

"Think," Mal said. "My mother was never without it. She held it even as she sat upon her throne." Mal moved back to the spot where the throne no longer stood. "Here."

"So where would it be now?" Annaleise frowned, head tilted.

Anderson stands off to the side, observing them with that same analyzing look.

"It wouldn't be where anyone else could touch it," Evie said. "Try asking my mother if she'll let you touch any of her own Miss Fairest Everything memorabilia."

"But she'd want to see it, of course. From her throne," Jay said. Mal nodded; they'd all seen Jafar orient himself in his kitchen, directly behind his stack of coins.

"Which would be—" Mal spun slowly around. She could picture her mother sitting here, clutching the staff, feeling powerful and evil and well, like herself as she reigned over the kingdom.

She shook her head.

My mother would have no problem cursing any of the people in this room for ten thousand years, let alone one.

"There. Look!" cried Evie, spotting a tall black staff with a dim green globe at its top against the far wall.

It was, just as they had predicted, exactly in Mal's line of vision from the missing throne, but raised by some sort of magical light a good twelve feet into the air. Far out of the hands of any interlopers—and yes, where it could not be touched.

Of course.

There it was.

It's really here. The most powerful weapon of all Darkness.

Evil lives! indeed.

"It's right here!" Evie was closest to it and reached for it eagerly.

She shot her hand up into the air, extending her fingers. The moment she did, the Dragon's Eye began to shake, as if something about Mal herself was prying it loose from the very light and air that bound it.

Evie smiled. "I've got it—"

Mal saw Evie's hand curl toward it, almost in slow motion. The scepter itself seemed to glow, as if it were beckoning Evie toward it.

Everything around Mal seemed to blur until she could only see Evie's small, delicate fingers and the bewitched Dragon's Eye, just beyond her grasp.

In a split second Mal had to make the decision: could she let Evie touch it and be cursed into a deep, death-like sleep for a thousand years?

Or would she save her?

Stop her?

Do something…good?

While betraying her own mother's wishes, and giving up on her own dream of becoming something more than a disappointment?

Was she content to remain only a Mal her entire life?

Never a Maleficent?

She froze, unable to decide.

"No!" cried Mal finally, running toward Evie. "Don't!"

What just happened? What was she doing? Why couldn't she stop herself?

"What?" asked Evie, shocked, just as a familiar voice boomed from the Dragon's Eye.

"WHOEVER AWAKENS THE DRAGON WILL BE CURSED TO SLEEP FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!"

Maleficent's voice was coming from the staff even now, echoing and reverberating around the room.

Her mother really had left an impression behind her. What remained of her power and her energy crackled off the walls of the room, sparked to life by one accidental moment and latent until now, when it had victims to torture.

Evie's fingers brushed the air next to the staff.

While Mal's hand closed upon it, and when it did…

She fell to the floor, asleep.

* * *

Mal fell to the floor, unconscious after grabbing the Dragon's Eye. Evie ran over to her and tried to shake her awake. "Mal! Mal! Wake up!"

Evie turned to Carlos. "Why isn't she waking up?"

"It's because of the scepter. Maleficent put a curse on it that anyone who touches it sleeps for a thousand years. Same thing she did to Sleeping Beauty." Anderson explained impassively.

Evie let out an sob as a tear drop drip down on Mal's peaceful face. "So, she's going to be like this for a thousand years?!"

Annaleise let out a shaky breath as she tried to control her emotions. She grabbed onto Carlos' hand for comfort.

There was a green flash and the scepter in Mal's hand disappeared.

Suddenly, Mal's eyes opened and she sat up. Evie jumped back in surprise before instantly drawing Mal into a hug.

"You're awake! But you're supposed to be asleep for a thousand years!" cried Evie, Mal returned her hug for a second before ending the hug. "How?"

Mal rubbed her eyes. It was true—she was awake. She wasn't cursed. Why was that? Then she realized.

'Prove that you are my daughter, prove that you are mine,' her mother had ordered her. Prove to me that you are the blood of the dragon. Prove you are worthy of that mark on your skin.'

The mark of the double dragon etched on her forearm. That had to be it. She held it up, showing the others.

"It couldn't hurt me," said Mal. "My true name is Maleficent. Like my mother, I am part dragon, and so I am immune to the Dragon's curse."

"Lucky you," Jay said, eyeing the impressive tat.

Mal smiled proudly down at the marking she bore.

If she had been her father's daughter, weak, human, she would be asleep by now. For a thousand years. But she wasn't. She was strong, and awake, and had proven to everyone that she was her mother's daughter.

Hadn't she?

And when she brought her mother the Dragon's Eye—

"But wait—where is it?" Mal said, looking around accusingly at the trio. "I had it right in my hand!"

"Good question," said Jay, sounding a little wounded himself.

"It's gone. When you grabbed it, there was a flash of light that blinded us for a second, and when we could see again, it was gone," said Carlos. He shrugged. "Easy come, easy go."

The other four glared at him and Annaleise flicked his ear.

"Easy?" Evie raised an eyebrow, looking as tough as she possibly could.

Mal narrowed her eyes. "Jay, come on, hand it over."

"I swear, I don't have it!" said Jay, emptying his pockets to show her. "I planned to take it. I wanted to take it. I was even going to take it out of your own hand, while you were sacked out."

"And?"

He shrugged. "Just didn't get around to it, I guess."

"None of us have it," said Evie. She folded her arms, looking annoyed. "And by the way, you knew the curse was on that staff and you had all of us come with you anyway? What was up with that?"

Mal kicked a stone with her toe. "Yeah. I didn't really work out the plan very well."

"So why didn't you let me touch it, then? Wasn't that your evil scheme all along?"

Mal shrugged. "What are you talking about? I just didn't want you to. It wasn't yours to touch."

"Be honest. You were going to curse me, weren't you? You were going to let me touch that thing and end up taking the thousand-year nap?" Evie sighed.

Jay looked up. Carlos backed away instinctively. Mal knew neither one of them wanted to get anywhere near this conversation. She knew that because she felt the same way herself.

"I guess that was the plan." Mal shrugged. She doesn't have to explain herself. Not to her. But she found, strangely enough, that she wanted to.

"Is this still about the—you know?" Evie looked at her. "Come on."

Mal was embarrassed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," Jay muttered. Even Carlos laughed. Mal glared at both of them.

Evie rolled her eyes. "The party. My party. Back when we were little kids."

"Who can remember that far back?" Mal said, sticking out her chin stubbornly.

Evie looked tired. "I begged my mother to invite you, you know. But she refused; she was still too angry at your mother. They've competed for everything for as long as they've known each other."

Mal nodded again. "I know. Because of that stupid election about who would lead this island, right?"

Evie shrugged. "You know what they say. Magic Mirror on the wall, who's the biggest ego of them all?"

Mal smiled in spite of the entirely awkward nature of the conversation.

Evie looked her straight in the eye. "Look, my mom messed up. But the party wasn't that great, really. You didn't miss much."

"It wasn't a howler?"

"Not anything like Carlos's at all." Evie smiled.

"That's right. I'm legendary," Carlos said.

Mal glared at him. "As if I didn't have to almost beat you into having that party?"

She looked back at Evie. "Look, I didn't mean to trap you in Cruella's horrible closet." Mal glanced at Carlos, adding, "The one she loves more than her own son."

"Ha-ha," Carlos said, not laughing at all. Well, sort of not laughing. Actually, he was kind of laughing. Even Jay was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

Evie giggled as well. "Yes, you did."

"Okay, I did." Mal smiled.

"It's all right." Evie smiled back. "I didn't get caught in any of the traps."

"Cool," said Mal, even as she was embarrassed by her softness.

Annaleise cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm the one who nearly had her leg chopped off."

Evie and Mal both gave sheepish smiles.

Carlos sighed.

Jay punched him in the gut with a grin. "Come on. At least your mom doesn't only wear sweat suits and pajamas."

"Let's not talk about it," said Evie and Mal, almost in unison.

"Yeah. Enough with the violins. We got a long walk home," Jay said. "And I'm not all that sure that this place has a back door."

"I'll come with. It's actually been a very long time since I've had any human interaction." Anderson said with a wistful look on his face. Annaleise walked over to him and held out her hand. He looked at her hand for a few seconds before holding it, his hand mildly warm. He blushed a little when she smiled at him.

* * *

Mal had a hard time keeping her mind on finding the way out of the fortress, though.

She was soft, and she was worried.

She had just saved someone's life, practically. Hadn't she?

What kind of self-respecting second-generation villain did anything of the sort?

What had happened to her grand evil scheme?

Why hadn't she just let Evie be cursed by Maleficent's scepter?

Weren't princesses meant to sleep for years and years anyway?

Didn't that basically come with the job description?

What if my mom is right?

What if Mal really was weak like her father—and worse, had a propensity for good somewhere in her black little heart?

Mal shuddered as she walked along behind the others.

No. If anything, being immune to the curse just proved she was definitely not her father's daughter.

One day she too would be Maleficent.

She had to be.

But whether she was Maleficent's daughter or not, she had failed.

She was returning home empty-handed.

Boy, did she not want to be around when her mother found out.

This wasn't the victory lap Mal had imagined when she'd first set off in search of the Forbidden Fortress.

Defeated, the unlikely gang of six began to retrace their steps, just looking for the way out. They had lost everything, as usual. By any reasonable standard—or by her mother's infinitely less reasonable standards, Mal thought—they were utter and complete failures, every last one.

Especially her.

The moment they retreated from the throne room, though, Mal couldn't help but feel a shiver of relief at also leaving its darkness behind.

Although, oddly enough, the fortress had a different feel now, like it was dead. Mal couldn't feel the same energy it had before.

"Do you think the hole in the dome's plugged up again?" she asked Carlos. "It feels different in here."

"Maybe," he said. "Or maybe the magic it sparked is spent, now."

Mal looked up at the sky. She had a feeling there wouldn't be any more magic on the island.

Nobody said a word as they found their way back to the hall where the Magic Mirror was now just an ordinary surface, especially not Evie, who avoided so much as a glance at it.

Nobody said a word, either, as they hurried once again over the crumbling marble floor, this time avoiding both the scampering rats and the fluttering bats—going nowhere near any goblin passages or suffocating mazes or dusty tapestry rooms or portrait halls—until they reached the vast, empty cave that had so briefly become the sand-filled Cave of Wonders.

Especially not Jay, who only quickened the pace of his own echoing footsteps until he once again found the rotting wooden door that had brought them there the first time.

And Carlos seemed in a particular hurry to get through twisting passages that led to the black marble–floored, dark-fogged halls of the main fortress. As he pushed his way out the front doors, the gargoyle bridge once again faced them.

Faced him.

When the others caught up to Carlos, they stopped and stared over the precipice where he stood. The dizzying depths of the ravine below were, well, dizzying. But he didn't seem in any hurry to step back up to the bridge this time.

"It's fine," Evie said, encouragingly. "We'll just do what we did before."

"Sure. We cross one stupid bridge." Jay nodded. "Not very far at all."

That was true. On the other side of the bridge, they could just make out the winding path leading its way down through the thorn forest, from the direction they'd originally come.

"We're practically home free," Mal agreed, looking sideways at Carlos, who sighed.

"I don't know. Do you think it looks a little more, you know, crumbly? After all those tidal earthquakes we were feeling back there? It doesn't seem like the safest plan." He looked at Mal.

Nobody could disagree.

The problem was still the bridge. It was all in one piece this time, with no missing sections—but they all knew better than to trust anything in the fortress.

And not one of them dared set foot on it, after last time. Not after the riddles. Though they'd made it over easily enough the first time, once they'd answered the riddles, they hadn't thought about having to go out the way they'd come.

"I don't know if I can do it again," Carlos said, taking in the faces of the once again stone gargoyles. He winced at the thought of their coming to life again.

In Mal's own mind, she hadn't gotten much past imagining the scene where she reclaimed her mother's missing scepter and came home a hero. She had been a little foggy on the actual details beyond that, she supposed; and now that the whole redemption thing was off the table, she really didn't have a backup plan.

But as she looked at Carlos, who stood there shivering, she suspected, at the memory of collapsing bridges and fur coats and a mother's true love that wasn't her son, Mal figured out a way across.

Mal stepped in front of him. "You don't have to do it again." She took another step, and then another. "I mean, you don't get to hog all the cool bridge action," she said, trying to sound convincing. "Now it's my turn."

"What?" Carlos looked confused.

The wind picked up as Mal kept moving forward, but she didn't stop.

Mal pulled her jacket tightly around her and shouted up at the gargoyles. "You don't scare me! I've seen worse. Where do you think I grew up, Auradon?"

The wind howled around her now. She took another step, motioning for the other three to move behind her.

"Are you crazy?" Jay shook his head, sliding behind her.

"Mal, seriously. You don't have to do this," Carlos whispered, ducking behind Jay.

"Definitely crazy," Evie said, from behind Carlos.

"Me, crazy?" Mal raised her voice even higher. "How could I not be? I go to school in a graveyard and eat expired scones for breakfast. My own mother sends me to forbidden places like this, because of some old bird and a lost stick," she scoffed. "There's nothing you can throw at me that's worse than what I've already got going."

As she spoke, Mal kept pressing forward. She had crossed the halfway point of the bridge now, dragging the others right behind her.

The wind roared and whipped against them, as if it would pick them up and toss them off the bridge itself, if she let it. But Mal wouldn't.

"Is that all you've got?" She stuck out her chin, that much more stubborn. "You think a little breeze like that can get to someone like me?"

Lightning cracked overhead, and she started to run—her friends right behind her. By the time they reached the other side, the bridge had begun to rock so hard, it seemed like it would crumble again.

Only, this time it wouldn't be an illusion.

The moment Mal felt the dirt of the far cliff safely beneath her feet, she stumbled over a tree root and collapsed, bringing Carlos and Evie down with her. Jay stood there laughing.

Until he realized that he wasn't the only one laughing.

"Uh, guys?"

Mal looked up. They were surrounded by a crowd of goblins—not unlike the ones who had chased them through the goblin passages of the Forbidden Fortress. Except these particular goblins seemed to be of a friendlier variety.

"Girl," one said.

"Brave," said another.

"Help," said a third.

"I don't get it," Evie said, sitting up. Mal and Carlos scrambled to their feet while Anderson helped Annaleise to her feet. Jay took a step back.

Finally, a fourth goblin sighed. "I think what my companions are trying to articulate is that we're incredibly impressed by that show of fortitude. The bravery. The perseverance. It's a bit unusual, in these parts."

"Parts," repeated the goblins.

"It talks," Evie said.

Mal looked from one goblin to another. "Uh, thanks?"

"Not at all," said the goblin. The goblins around him began to grunt animatedly—although Mal thought it might be laughter, too. Carlos looked nervous. Jay just grunted back.

The fourth goblin sighed again, looking back at Mal. "And if you'd like our assistance in any way, we'd be more than happy to help convey you to your destination."

He looked Mal over.

She looked him over, in return. "Our destination?"

He suddenly became flustered. "You do seem far away from home," he said, adding hastily: "Not to presume. It's a conclusion I draw only from the irrefutable fact that neither you or your friends seem, well, remotely goblin-esque."

The goblins grunt-laughed again.

Jay stared. "You're about two feet tall. How would a guy like you get people like us all the way back to town?"

Evie elbowed him.

"Er. Not to be rude," Jay said.

"Rude," chanted the goblins, still grunt-laughing.

"I'm pretty sure that was rude," Carlos muttered.

"Ah, there you have it. Alone, we are but a single goblin, perhaps even, a brute." The goblin smiled. "Together, I'm afraid we are a rather brutal army. Not to mention, we pull an excellent carriage."

"Pull!" The goblins went nuts.

An old iron carriage—like the kind you might have seen Belle and Beast ride away in, except black and burnt and nothing that either the queen or king of Auradon would so much as touch—appeared in front of them.

No less than forty goblins manned either side, fighting for a grip on the carriage itself.

"Why would you do that?" Mal said, as a good seven goblins battled the broken door open. "Why are you being so nice?"

"A good deed. Helping a fellow adventurer. Perhaps there's a chance for us to get off this island yet," said the goblin. "We have been sending messages to our dwarf kin asking King Beast for amnesty. We've been wicked for such a very long time, you know. It does get tiresome after a while. I would kill for a cream cake."

"Currants," said a goblin.

"Chocolate chip," said another.

Mal had to admit, she was starting to feel a little exhausted herself. She knew, because she slept the entire way home, without even being embarrassed that her head was resting on Evie's shoulder.

Carlos was leaning against Jay, on the edge of sleep himself with Jay not far behind. Annaleise curled up next to Anderson with her head in his lap, being soothed to sleep as he strokes her hair and watches everything that pass by.

* * *

When Mal returned to the Bargain Castle, she fully expected her mother to scream invectives at her for failing in her quest. She opened the door slowly and stepped inside, as quietly as she could, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"Mother, I have something to…" Mal stopped, looking up.

And stared.

And then stared some more, in about ten different varieties of shock.

Because she found herself staring at the long black staff with the green globe at its top that her mother was holding.

The Dragon's Eye.

"Is that—" She couldn't speak.

Maleficent nodded. "Yes, it is the Dragon's Eye. And yes, you did fail me. But thankfully, not all my servants are as useless as you."

Mal ignored the word servant. "But how?"

Maleficent laughed. "Silly child, what do you know about quests?"

"But we found it in the Forbidden Fortress! I just touched it—an hour ago!" said Mal. "It was in your own throne room. Suspended on the wall. Where you could see it, from where your throne used to sit."

Her mother eyed her. Mal couldn't be certain, but it was possible, for the briefest of all split-seconds, that her mother was the slightest bit impressed.

"I touched it, and that thing knocked me unconscious."

"You touched it? You don't say," said Maleficent. "Well, good job, you. You really are as soft as your father."

Mal bristled. "I don't understand."

"You touched the Dragon's Eye? Instead of tricking one of the others into doing it? Such weakness. I didn't want to believe the news when I heard it."

Maleficent banged her staff upon the floor next to her feet. "How many times, Mal? How much more will you shame me?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I sent Diablo out after you to retrieve the Eye for me. He must have taken it from you while you were sleeping off the curse." She shook her head. "I knew you wouldn't have it in you to do what needed to be done, and I knew I couldn't take any chances. It appears I was right. Again."

Diablo cawed proudly.

So she'd been right about feeling as if they were being followed. Of course. That was Diablo.

Mal felt like giving up. It never mattered, how hard she tried, or what she did, she would never impress her mother.

Even now, her mother had eyes only for the Dragon's Eye.

"The only thing is, it's broken," said Maleficent with a frown. "Look at the eye, it's dead."

For a moment, she sounded like the same angry little girl who had cursed a baby over a party invitation. Mal remembered all too well, and she looked at her mother through new eyes.

"Well, the dome is still up," said Mal, finally. "It keeps the magic out." It was down for a brief moment, but there would be no magic on the island anytime soon.

"Maybe. Or maybe you broke the eye when you touched it," Maleficent accused. "You are such a disappointment."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Jafar's Junk Shop, an angry Jafar was berating Jay, who had returned home empty-handed.

"So you're saying you did find the Dragon's Eye, did you? So where is it, then?"

"It disappeared!" Jay protested. "One minute we had it, and then we lost it."

"Right. And this had nothing to do with a certain noble deed performed by a certain daughter of evil for a certain other daughter of evil?"

Jay froze. "Excuse me?"

The words good and deed were chilling, particularly on the Isle, and particularly when coming out of his father's mouth.

"Did you think goblins keep secrets particularly well, boy? The news is all over the island."

"I swear. That's what really happened. I swear on a stack of stolen…" Jay blanked. He couldn't think of a single thing to steal at the moment.

But to be honest, for once in his life, he didn't even care.

"You are such a disappointment," Jafar snorted.

* * *

Over at Hell Hall, Carlos was getting an earful after Cruella finally discovered her furs in disarray in her closet.

"Who has been in here? It looks like a wild animal was trapped with my furs! What imbecile would do such a thing?"

"A wild one?" Carlos winced. He knew it was pointless to even try. Not when the closet looked like this.

His answer was a scream, and it was bloodcurdling. Even in his mother's signature, shrill octave.

"I'm sorry Mother," whimpered Carlos. "It won't happen again! I know how much you love your furs." The words were almost a whisper. He could see the faces of the gargoyles from the bridge, mocking him as he said them.

Then he could see Mal, Annaleise, Evie, and Jay laughing at her with him, and he had to keep from secretly smiling, himself.

Cruella sniffed. "You are such a disappointment!"

* * *

Over at the Castle-Across-the-Way, the Evil Queen was lamenting the state of Evie's hair. "It's like a rat's nest! What happened? You look awful."

"I'm sorry Mother, we ran into…well…uh…let's just say I couldn't find a mirror."

I found one, she thought. Just not the kind you want to look at.

Not when you're supposed to be the fairest of them all.

"Just promise me these rumors I'm hearing aren't true," her mother said.

"All this talk of a virtuous act." She shuddered. "The goblins are saying such horrid things about the five of you."

"You know that goblins are horrible creatures, Mom." Evie hid her face. She didn't know what to say.

To be honest, she didn't even know what she thought. It had been a strange few days.

Not entirely bad, but strange.

The Evil Queen sighed. "You forgot to reapply blush again. Oh dear, sometimes, you're such a disappointment."

* * *

At Captain Hook's domain, Annaleise and Anderson snuck into her room through her window.

"So, who's your friend?" A female voice asked. Annaleise and Anderson froze when they heard it.

Annaleise looked up to see Harriet and the girl next to him has slender, fair skin, pink lips, long blonde hair, and brown eyes.

Annaleise breathed out, "CJ."

CJ was her older sister and she always hangs out with Freddie Facilier, daughter of Dr. F.

Seems like her siblings heard about the news.

"This is, um, Anderson." Annaleise introduced. "Anderson, these are my brother and sister, Harriet and CJ."

"Not so great to meet you." Harriet said to Anderson before turning to his younger sister. "Out of all the things you bring home from your adventure, you bring home a boy?"

CJ shook her head. "If father was here, he'd say you're an disappointment."

* * *

Mal sat out on the balcony, hearing the sounds of laughter and mayhem from down below. Then, a shout.

"Mal!" Jay called. "Come down!"

She ran downstairs. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing, just trying to get away from our parents and disappointing them again," said Carlos.

"You too, huh?" asked Mal. She turned to Jay, Annaleise and Evie. "And you?"

The three of them nodded. Anderson stood there awkwardly as he remembered what happened with the Hook family.

"Come on, let's go to the market," said Evie. "I need a new scarf."

"I can get you one," said Jay, waggling his eyebrows. "Oh, and Evie—here you go," he said. "I believe this might be yours."

"My necklace!" said Evie, putting the poison-heart charm around her neck once more, with a smile. "Thanks, Jay."

"I found it."

"In his pocket," said Mal, but even she was grinning.

With a whoop, the five descendants (and one unknown) of the world's greatest villains ran through the crowded streets of the Isle of the Lost, causing havoc, stealing and plundering together while the citizens of the island ran the other way. They were truly rotten to the core.

Even Mal started to feel better.

And in fact, as they laughed and sang, Mal wondered if this was what happiness was like.

Because even though the six of them weren't quite friends yet, they were the closest things they had to it.

* * *

 **A/N - This is where I end with the Isle of The Lost saga. The next chapter we start with the movie. See you all next time!**


	7. Rotten To The Core

It's been eight months since their adventure to get the Dragon's Eye. The six teens became close and deep down, they admit that they are friends. At school, there is always someone with the other and they are practically inseparable.

Mal is always rolling her eyes at her companions' antics but there is a playful tint to it when she does it, Evie is always trying to get Mal to wear make-up and light color clothes, Carlos is always working on new inventions, Jay is always pestering Annaleise and she pesters him back, Annaleise is always humming under her breath, and Anderson always disappears when they least expect him to.

Despite a lot of badgering on Annaleise's, Carlos' and Evie's parts, Anderson still refuses to give up his backstory or how he keeps disappearing on several occasions.

They thought that adventure was a one-time deal but now...

...they are going on a second one.

* * *

 _They say I'm trouble_

 _They say I'm bad_

 _They say I'm evil_

 _And that makes me glad_

(Mal was spray-painting 'Long Live Evil' with Maleficent's shadow in the background on a wall.)

 _A dirty no-good_

 _Down to the bone_

 _Your worst nightmare_

 _Can't take me home_

(Jay climbed down the ladder and opened the door, passing a woman carrying a bag)

 _So I've got some mischief_

 _In my blood_

 _Can you blame me?_

 _I never got no love_

(Evie was walking across a table, people scrambling to take their stuff off the table before she steps on them before crawling through a railing.)

 _They think I'm callous_

 _A low-life hood_

 _I feel so useless_

 _Misunderstood_

(Carlos stole an apple from a little girl. He took a bite before throwing it back to the little girl.)

 _I'm no fairy tale_

 _I'm just waiting to unveil_

 _You might think I'm just child's play_

 _But you might see through my display_

(Annaleise was walking across the pipe leading from her room with Hybrid behind her and she dropped down to street-level.)

 _I have a hidden past_

 _I'm not sure how long that's gonna last_

 _Say, are you villain kids?_

 _Guess what, so am I!_

(Anderson was walking past a few stores before taking a hat off Harriet's head.)

 _Mirror, mirror on the wall_

 _Who's the baddest of them all?_

 _Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world_

(Mal and Evie were walking down an alleyway, Jay was sliding down the rooftop, Carlos was jumping on beds, interrupting people's beauty sleep, Annaleise and Hybrid were running across people's heads and Anderson was just simply running away from Harriet.)

 _I'm rotten to the core, core_

 _Rotten to the core_

 _I'm rotten to the core, core_

 _Who could ask for more?_

 _I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door_

 _I'm rotten to the (core), I'm rotten to the (core)_

 _I'm rotten to the core._

(They all arrived at the gate of a man-made laundromat. They opened the gate and stepped inside. The six teens started pushing people, stepping on their laundry and banging the metal tubs with pipes.)

 _Call me a schemer_

 _Call me a freak_

 _How can you say that?_

 _I'm just... unique!_

(Mal spray-painted a 'M' on a cloth curtain before pulling it to reveal there was someone in the bathtub.)

 _What, me? A traitor?_

 _Ain't got your back?_

 _Are we not friends?_

 _What's up with that?_

(Jay hung down from the portrait frame and picked up the kettle and poured tea into two cups before jumping over the table and stealing their tablecloth. He rubbed the tablecloth on the kettle before running off, people protesting.)

 _So I'm a misfit_

 _So I'm a flirt_

 _I broke your heart?_

 _I made you hurt?_

(Evie pushed away two clothes before taking the scarf of a tailor and pulling it, causing him to spin and fall. She turned and walked backwards, the tailor looking at her with interest.)

 _Heroes? Villains?_

 _Please, we know who's superior._

 _Heroes are weak, despite the exterior._

 _Villains for the win!_

(Annaleise ripped a poster off the wall and ripped it with a scowl on her face.)

 _Hold the phone,_

 _I am unknown_

 _But I am known as a vanishing act_

 _I am mysterious, to be exact._

(Anderson was examining Harriet's hat, which is red and has sunglasses on it. He put it on and snapped his fingers.)

 _The past is past_

 _Forgive, forget_

 _The truth is..._

 _You ain't seen nothing yet!_

(Carlos was walking across a table, knocking down apples and putting a basket on a woman's head, who was telling him to look at what's he done to her apples.)

 _Mirror, mirror on the wall_

 _Who's the baddest of them all?_

 _Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world_

(Mal and Evie were up on the catwalk, Carlos was pulling a manmade crane with Jay hanging from it, Annaleise and Anderson was playing frisbee with Harriet's hat, much to the owner's displeasure.)

(They all went outside and danced to hardcore music, coming from a passersby's radio. All of the other villain kids joined in as well and they did a choreographed dance.)

 _I'm rotten to the core, core_

 _Rotten to the core_

 _I'm rotten to the core, core_

 _Who could ask for more?_

 _I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door_

 _I'm rotten to the (core), I'm rotten to the (core),_

 _I'm rotten to the core_

(In the last line, they all danced out their last pose.)

A mother dragging a wagon with a child in it passed by and Mal stole the child's candy. She held it up to the other villain kids and they all laughed.

They stopped laughing when they spotted Maleficent walking up to them with her henchman. They started screaming and ran off, leaving Mal, Jay, Evie, Carlos, Annaleise and Anderson behind.

Mal turned around. "Hi, mom."

"Stealing candy, Mal? So disappointing." Maleficent said, holding onto her staff. Mal held out the lollipop. "It was from a baby."

"Oh! That's my nasty little girl." Maleficent cackled, taking the candy, spit on it and put it into her armpit. She gave the lollipop to her henchman. "Give it back to the dreadful creature."

"Mom..." Mal said.

"It's the deets, Mal, that make the difference between mean and truly evil. When I was your age, I was cursing entire kingdoms.-"

"Cursing entire kingdoms." Mal copied. Her mother pointed at her and pulled her aside away from the others.

"You. Walk with me. See, I'm just, just trying to teach you

the thing that really counts...how to be me." Maleficent said.

"I know that. And I'll do better." Mal said, staring at her mother. Maleficent then turned around. "Oh! There's news! I buried the lede. Evil Queen's daughter, Jafar's son, De Vil's son and Hook's youngest daughter have all been chosen to go to a different school...In Auradon."

After hearing that, the mentioned four teens started to run but the henchman prevented them from running. Hybrid ran off when he saw they were trying to run. Annaleise yelled after him. "Lucky!"

"What? I'm not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses!" Mal exclaimed. Evie ran up beside her. "And perfect princes." Mal gave her a look and Evie looked down. "Ugh."

"Yeah, and I don't do uniforms. Unless It's leather." Jay butted in. "You feel me?" He held out a hand to Annaleise for a high-five but she ignored it, in favor of saying, "I ain't going to Auradon even if you paid me." Jay's hand went back to his side, dejectedly.

"I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon. Mom said they're rabid pack animals who eat boys who don't behave." Carlos said with a faraway look in his eyes. Jay sneaked behind him and put his hands on his shoulders and, "WOOF!"

Carlos shrieked and jumped into Anderson's arms. Jay laughed hysterically when he saw that.

Anderson looked down at the petrified boy in his arms "You comfy, Car?" Carlos noticed the position they were in and jumped down, sheepish. "Sorry."

"It's cool."

Mal turned back to her mother. "Yeah, mom, we're not going."

"Oh, you're thinking small, pumpkin. It's all about world domination." Maleficent cackled before turning around to her henchman. "Knuckleheads!"

The six teens gave each other looks before following the dragon fairy.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they found themselves in Maleficent's castle, in a throne room with each of their parents. Maleficent was sitting in the throne chair, filing her nails.

"You will go. You will find the fairy godmother and you will bring me back her magic wand." Maleficent cited. "Easy peasy."

"What's in it for us?" Mal asked, with the other five teens standing slightly behind her.

"What's in it for us? Matching thrones. Hers-and-hers crowns." Maleficent snickered.

"I think she meant us." Annaleise said with an eyebrow raised.

Maleficent stood up and leaned over the railing, gesturing for Mal to come closer. "It's all about you and me, baby. Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, who doesn't-" Mal said before being cut off when Maleficent exclaims, "Well, then get me the wand and you and I can see all that and so much more. And with that wand and my scepter, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!"

"Our will." Evil Queen cut in.

"Our will, our will." Maleficent corrected. She turned to her daughter. "And If you refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your life, missy."

"What? Mom." Mal protested. Maleficent stood over her and her eyes glowed green, staring into her eyes. Mal's eyes glowed green as well.

They kept this up for a few more seconds before Mal looked away. "Fine. Whatever."

Maleficent smirked. "I win."

"Evie!" Evil Queen called over to her daughter. Evie moved to sit in front of her mother. "My little evil-ette in training, you just find yourself a prince with a big castle and a mother-in-law wing. And lots and lots of mirrors!" Evie said the last part before letting out an breathy laugh.

"No laughing. Wrinkles!" Evil Queen chastised, and Evie stopped laughing.

"Oh, well, they're not taking my Carlos, because I'd miss him too much." Cruella said, lightly patting his hair. Carlos looked at her with hope in his eyes. "Really, mom?"

"Yes. Who would touch up my roots, fluff my fur, and scrape the bunions off my feet?" Carlos hopeful look fell and he turned away from his mother. "Yeah, maybe a new school wouldn't be the worst thing."

Cruella said, "Oh, Carlos, they have dogs in Auradon."

Carlos' eyes widened and he shook his head. "Oh, no! I'm not going!"

"Well, Jay isn't going either. I need him to stock the shelves in my store." Jafar stated before turning to Jay. "What did you score?" Jay started taking some objects out of his pockets and handing them to his father.

Jafar's face lit up when he was handed the lamp. He started rubbing it, apparently hoping there's a genie inside.

"Dad. I already tried."

Jafar let out a growl at that and he dropped the lamp onto the table roughly.

"I don't have any problem sending Annaleise to Auradon." Captain Hook said calmly. Annaleise turned to him with a hurt look on her face. "But dad-"

"No arguments, lass. It's all for the greater evil. You're going and that's final." Captain Hook sneered at her, daring her to say more. Annaleise crossed her arms and grumbled.

Annaleise looked around for Anderson but unsurprisingly once again, he's disappeared. She frowned at that.

"Evie's not going anywhere until we get rid of this unibrow, hmm?" Evil Queen said, fingering at Evie's forehead.

Maleficent threw up her hands. "What is wrong with you all? People used to cower at the mention of our names! For 20 years, I have searched for a way off this island. For 20 years, they have robbed us from our revenge. Revenge on snow white and her horrible little men."-Evil Queen sneered-"Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated genie!"-Jafar raised a wooden spoon and cursed, Jay immediately tried to calm him down-"Revenge on every sneaky dalmatian that escaped your clutches."

"Oh, but they didn't get baby. They didn't get the baby!" Cruella squeaked the dog toy on her shoulder.

"And I, Maleficent...The evilest of them all, I will finally have my revenge on Sleeping Beauty and her relentless little prince." Maleficent said as she sat in Evil Queen's lap and looked at herself in the mirror. "Villains!"

They all acknowledged her. "Yes?"

"Our day has come." Maleficent smirked before looking at Evil Queen. "E.Q., give her the magic mirror."

Evil Queen handed Evie her Magic Mirror. Evie looked at it in awe. "This is your magic mirror?"

"Yeah, well, it ain't what it used to be, but then again, neither are we!" Evil Queen and Maleficent laughed. "It will help you find things."

"Like a prince." Evie said, excitedly.

"Like my waistline."

"Like the wand! Wake up, people!" Maleficent said, shaking her head in disbelief before starting to mutter and snap her fingers, trying to remember, "My spell book. My book. I need my..uh...um..that book." Evil Queen pointed to the fridge.

"Oh, ah! The safe. The safe. Queen, help me! I never can figure this thing out." Maleficent said, trying to figure out how to open it. Evil Queen got up and opened the fridge. Maleficent reached in and grabbed a freezing cold book off the shelf.

"Come, darling. Come." Maleficent waved Mal over. "There she is. It doesn't work here, but it will in Auradon. Remember? When we were spreading evil and ruining lives?"

"Like it was yesterday." Jafar said.

"And now you will be making your own memories by doing exactly as I tell you." Maleficent said.

Suddenly, they heard a horn honking outside.

"Well, there's our ride." Jay said. Annaleise nodded grimly.

"Wish I could come with you guys." An all-too familiar voice said beside her. Even though it happens often, she still gets surprised. She turned around to see Anderson with a slightly hidden sad look in his eyes. "Okay, first off. How do you keep doing that? And why?! Secondly, I think you can come with us but we'll have to smuggle you in. And I know how. Come on." Annaleise walked to a run-down closet and pulled out a worn-out suitcase.

"Get in." She said simply. Anderson looked at her and the suitcase in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Annaleise shook her head. Anderson gave an 'this-girl-is-crazy' look before making sure that no one is looking and climbing in, trying to fit inside. But before Annaleise could close the suitcase, Beezlebub jumped on top of Anderson and laid down on him, purring. Anderson looked at Annaleise. "What do we do with her?"

Annaleise made a grab for the cat but Beezlebub hissed at her. Annaleise hummed in thought. "Maybe she can stay in there with you. It will only be for twenty minutes and you have plenty of air, so you two will be fine as long you don't crush her." She zipped the suitcase shut before he could protest.

"Annaleise! Annaleise! Don't leave me in here with her!" Annaleise ignored him as she rolled the staircase to the door that leads outside.

Mal and Maleficent walked out onto the balcony, overlooking the isle. "The future of the free world rests on your shoulders. Don't blow it."

Maleficent walked back inside, leaving Mal outside. She stared at what is most likely Auradon in the distance.

"Mal!" Maleficent called for her and she started following her mother to the limo that was outside.

Jay was walking around the limousine and spotted something shiny. He took off his beanie, slipped it over the hood ornament, and took it, hiding it in his beanie.

"Come back here. Now!" Cruella called as she chased Carlos. Carlos threw the garbage bag that held his stuff into the open trunk and climbing into the car, sitting next to Annaleise with her suitcase at her feet.

"Ingrate." Cruella muttered.

Mal was the last to get in and she looked up at her mother who was staring at her from the balcony with a smile on her face. Mal smiled back before getting into the limo.

The villains waved goodbye to their children as they drove away.

"Bring home the gold!"

"Bring home a puppy."

"Bring home a prince."

Annaleise sighed. "Well, this next adventure is what I call-War of Change."

* * *

 **A/N - Well, here's the next chapter. I added my own lyrics to the song and don't hate on it. I did my best. Hope you liked this chapter.**

 **Until next time! (^~^)**


	8. Chapter 8

As they traveled across the bridge, Evie was currently trying to put blush on Mal's cheeks. "You're looking a little washed out. Let me help you out with that."

Mal batted her away. "Ew. Gross."

"Well, makeup doesn't work well with Mal." Annaleise says as she imagines Mal with eyeshadow, lipstick and blush on her face.

She really doesn't look good with makeup.

Carlos grabbed some of the candy from the compartment in front of him and stuffed it into his mouth. He giggled in glee as he grabbed a brown, rectangular treat and took a bite out of it. He stared at it in wonder as he said to Jay, "What is this? It's salty like nuts, but It's sweet like I don't know what."

"Let me see." Jay said and Carlos opened his mouth to reveal chewed up candy. Annaleise made a gagging noise in disgust as Jay punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Carlos yelped, Jay taking the brown candy out of his hand. He ate it and smiled as he grabbed some candy for himself at the same time that Carlos lunged to take more of the brown candy. They swatted each other as they tried to get candy.

Annaleise rolled her eyes before grabbing two handfuls of candy and stuffing them into her pocket before grabbing another two handfuls and opening the suitcase a little to give some to Anderson.

"Well, thank you for thinking of me." Anderson whispers, a bit sarcastic. Annaleise kicked the suitcase and he quietly grunted.

Evie was eating some kind of crystal blue candy on a stick when she noticed something through the window. "Look!"

Carlos and Jay stopped hitting each other as they all looked through the window to see the end of the road and the driver wasn't attempting to stop.

Mal cried out, "It's a trap!"

Mal and Evie screamed clinging to each other, Jay wrapped an arm around both of them, pulling them closer. Carlos let out high-pitched whimper, holding onto Jay's arm tightly. Annaleise's eyes are squeezed shut as she keeps one hand on her suitcase and the other around Carlos' neck.

They screamed as they got closer to the edge. After a few seconds, Mal noticed they weren't falling to their doom and the others did as well.

Jay noticed how they were positioned and quickly let go of Evie and Mal. Carlos let go of Jay and Annaleise let go of him.

Evie looked out the window to see a golden road leading to Auradon. "This is some grade-A magic."

"Yeah-huh." Mal looked out of the window in awe. She rolled down the black window separating them from the driver. "Hey, driver. What just happened?"

The driver turned his head to them and said coolly, "I pressed this button to open the barrier"-he showed them a little white remote with two buttons on them-"and this button..."

He pressed the second button and the black window rolled back up in Mal's face. "Oh, okay. I like that guy."

Annaleise breathed heavily as she tried to calm herself down. Jay took one look at her and started to laugh. "Did you pee your pants, crybaby?"

Annaleise reached over a still whimpering Carlos to whack him upside the head.

"Anna? What's happening u-" Annaleise kicked the suitcase to shut her luggage up.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were arriving at Auradon Prep school.

"We're here!" Evie squealed as she shook Mal's arm.

"I can see that, stop shaking me!" Mal said, prying Evie's hands off her arm. Annaleise looked out of the window to see a giant stone castle in front of them.

In front of the main gate, there was a marching band and most likely, their welcoming committee.

"Alright, let's do this." Mal smirked, the others nodded.

"I wish Anderson was here with us though." Evie said, a sad look on her face.

Inside the suitcase, Anderson smiled at what Evie said, touched that she misses him but not for long.

He felt the car stop and heard the door open. The suitcase was lifted up and taken outside to a loud marching band, which stopped when Carlos and Jay tumbles out of the car fighting over something. He rolls his eyes at it.

Meanwhile, outside the suitcase, Mal and Evie stepped out of the limousine first, Annaleise with her suitcase behind them, followed by a fighting Carlos and Jay, tugging on a towel.

"Why do you want it? You already got everything else in the car!" Carlos cried, pulling as hard as he can.

"Because you want it!" Jay replied, refusing to let go.

"Guys, stop. We have an audience." Mal hissed to them quietly. Both of them stopped tugging and looked up to see shocked faces looking down at them.

Carlos, embarrassed, quickly let go and climbed to his feet, grinning nervously. Jay got up as well, not even feeling embarrassed.

A woman in front of them has her brown hair up in a bun, shining blue eyes, is wearing a knee-length light blue smock, and silver high heels. She was staring at Jay with the towel in his hand. She said in a sing-song voice, "Leave it like you found it."

Jay pouted slightly before throwing the towel inside the car. The woman gave him a look and he slipped his hands in his pockets and took out the rest of the things he stole before throwing them into the car, too.

A teen male, with light brown hair, in a black blazer and black pants walked up to Evie and held out his hand for a handshake. She gladly took it, smiling at him.

"Welcome to Auradon prep."

He moved onto Annaleise, who just stared at him indifferently. "I'm Prince Ben, son of Queen Belle and King Beast, heir to the throne."

Ben stepped up to Carlos and shook his hand before bringing his hand to his mouth, "It's very nice to meet you...chocolate?"

Carlos licked off the chocolate on his thumb as Ben held his hand out for Mal, who just glares at him with an analyzing look in her eyes. "This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history."

Jay punched him in the arm when Ben was in front of him. "As the day our two peoples began to heal." Ben rubbed his arm at the slight pain.

"Or the day you showed five people's where the bathrooms are." Mal commented.

"A little over the top?" Ben questioned.

"Way over the top for an first impression." Annaleise said, tapping her fingers on the worn-out suitcase.

"Sorry." He apologized sheepishly. A teenage girl walked up to Mal. She had long, hazel-brown hair, and is wearing a pink dress.

"Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you?" She asks, not-so-friendly-like. Mal recognized her as Sleeping Beauty's daughter.

"Oh, this is-" Ben gestured to the girl before she cut him off. "Princess Audrey."

"Sleeping Beauty's daughter. Yeah, I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world but my mother to their stupid christening." Mal replied.

"Water under the bridge." Audrey said.

"Totes." They both laughed before ending it with a drawn-out awkward sigh.

"Okay, how about a tour?"

* * *

After calming Carlos down from his freak attack at the Beast statue changing, they all walked into the lobby of the dormitories.

"This concludes the end of your tour. I have to go, so Audrey and-Doug! Doug, come down here!-Doug are going to help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms. I'll see you later, okay?" Ben says, as he walks away. "And If there is anything you need, feel free to ask me."

"Okay." Carlos called after him.

A boy with a nerdy haircut, glasses and light blue sweater vest with a clipboard in his hand walks over to them as he descended down the stairs. "Hello, I'm Doug, son of Dopey as in the Seven Dwarves. Like Dopey, Sleepy, Happy, Doc, Bashful and...and.."

"Anyway, what are our classes?" Annaleise interrupted.

"Oh, oh yeah. I, uh, put in the requirements already...History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet, and, uh, Remedial Goodness 101." Doug listed as Mal and Evie looked over his shoulder at the clipboard.

"Let me guess, new class?" Mal said. Doug nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, let's get to our dorms." Jay said as he started to climb the stairs Doug had went down. The others ran after him as well.

"Um, uh, actually guys, your dorms are that way." Doug pointed to other staircase. They went back down and started walking up the other staircase.

"Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and..." Doug listed as he tried to remember his uncles' names.

"Sneezy." Carlos finished.

"Ah, right. Sneezy."

* * *

"Alright, Mal, Evie, this is your room." Doug said, opening the door to Room 2315, revealing two beds, two dressers, a plasma screen television, three bay windows, and one bathroom.

"Thanks, Do-" Mal had nudged her elbow into her ribs before entering the room. Evie looked back at Doug and mouthed 'Thank you'. He smiled in response. "Your welcome."

Jay, Carlos, Annaleise and Doug continued on. Audrey had left earlier, claiming she had to be with her friends.

They arrived at Room 1180 to drop off Jay and Carlos at their room, similar to Mal's and Evie's room but has darker colors.

"Ooohh, there's an X-box!" Carlos exclaimed, excitedly, running over to the TV. Jay pushed him away, and grabbed the remote. Carlos tackled him and they started fighting for the remote.

"Okay, let's keep going before they involve us in this." Annaleise pushed Doug down the hallway getting away from the fighting boys.

"Do they always do that?" Doug asks.

"Yeah." 'But it's even worse when Anderson joins in.'

Doug lead her to Room 2317. "Okay, since this has been quite last minute, you don't have a roommate.."

"Yay!" Annaleise cheered.

"But-" Doug started, stopping her from cheering further.

"Awww." Annaleise groans.

"It's only temporary. You will get a roommate soon." Doug said, opening the door to reveal a red-colored room, just like her friends' rooms.

"I'll see you around, I guess." Doug said, leaving Annaleise alone in her room.

"Not too shabby." Annaleise commented. Her suitcase started shaking violently and a muffled voice rang out.

"Annaleise! Let me out of here! I can't stand being this close to this rabid cat anymore!"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Annaleise apologizes as she lets Anderson and Beezlebub out. Beezlebub scampered away and jumped up onto the window ledge.

Anderson sat up, his face all scratched up and bloody with an lollipop stuck to his head. "I really hate that cat."

* * *

 **A/N- Alright, we are introduced to Ben, Audrey, and Doug. Fairy Godmother is mentioned but not by name. She'll be introduced later. I changed things that aren't in the movie but I want to try this my way.**

 **Oh, this story is also on AO3 under NobodyImportant1. You'll also find the couples there as well.**

 **See you guys next time!**


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